#^^ 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Shelf 


Division ^'Ty  V^^  ♦ 

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Number 


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x^^ 


(^.^^/--/f^^^^.. 


MEMORIAL 


rHARLES  N.  WALDKUN,  D.  1)., 


WHO    WAS 


TRANSLATED    MARCH    2,    isss 


THEY    SHAI.I.    WALK     \V  I  1  H     MK    IN    WHIIK." — AV?'.  /// ;    ^. 


I   K(»N'.    N.    v.: 
K.    n.    I  isKs  I'KiNTiNc.  iiorsK,   312  klVKk  ST. 

1  S  S  8 . 


FUNERAL    ADDRESS, 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  AT  THE  EUNERAL  oK  DK.  WALDRON 

BV  RKV.  J.  K.  DICKIE. 

Pastok  of  thk  Ckntrai.  Prksbvtkrian  (.'hurch. 

DKTRon.  MICH 


Enoch  iralked  iritli  (iixL  dml  lie  ic<i^  not.  J"t  (tihI  took 
hi  in. —  Gen.  v  :  24. 

Dr.  James  Hamilton,  of  Loiulon.  once  astonished  his 
congregation,  as  he  was  leading  tlie  eU'vcnth  cliaptei-  of 
Hebrews,  by  adding  the  names  of  C'hrysostom  and  Au- 
gnstine,  and  Tanler  and  Tliomas  a  Kempis,  and  Lnther, 
and  Calvin,  and  Knox,  and  Chalmers,  and  Guthrie,  and 
James  Nishct,  one  of  his  own  eldei*s.  When  asked  why 
he  had  done  so,  he  answered:  "1  wished  to  show  you 
that  we  eithei"  unduly  exalt  the  saints  mentioned  in 
Scripture,  oi-  we  unduly  <lt^]>reriate  the  saints  that  live 
and  move  among  us."  His  answer  was  just  and  true 
Held  l>y  the  bondage  of  custom  we  are  all  guilty  **\'  the 
charge  he  prefers  against  us.  Would  1  be  doing  violence 
to  Holy  Scri]»ture  by  saying:  An«l  Charles  Newman 
Waldron  walked  with  (iod.  and  be  was  not.  for  (Jod 
took   him  f      Nay,   for  we   know   that  this   word  is  as 


B 

appropriate  and  as  applicable  to  him,  whom  we  miss 
to-day,  as  it  ever  was  to  mortal. 

Believe  me,  the  children  of  God,  of  our  own  generation, 
are  as  heroic  in  faith  and  patience,  as  bright  and  beauti- 
ful in  their  hope,  and  as  noble  in  their  charity  as  any 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  I  regard  it  as  one  of  the  great- 
est blessings  of  my  life,  that  I  have  been  privileged  to 
know  men  and  women  in  our  own  city,  whose  saint- 
liness  is  as  genuine  and  as  beautiful  as  any  of  which  the 
church  of  God  has  record.  Many  are  yet  with  us, 
though  some  are  fallen  asleep.  And  although  their 
achievements  in  Christian  chivalry  may  not  equal  the 
glorious  triumphs  of  patriarchs  and  prophets,  of  apostles 
and  martyrs — for  they  had  special  work  to  do  and  were 
granted  special  grace  and  inspiration  for  the  doing  of  it 
— yet  the  like  blessed  influences  of  God's  omnipotent  grace 
would  produce  like  results  here  and  now.  God  lacks  not 
servants  to  do  any  work,  He  has  for  men  to  do,  God\s  call, 
happily,  is  not  uttered  in  our  ears  all  in  vain.  Some 
devout  and  pious  soul  leaps  up  responsive  to  the  voice, 
that  speaks  to  us  from  heaven.  And  thus  the  little 
world  we  live  in  is  not  left  without  a  witness,  and  even 
the  ungodly  have  taken  knowledge  of  such,  that  they 
have  been  with  Jesus.  Many  of  these  we  have  carried  to 
their  graves,  men  and  women,  whose  presence  was  a 
sermon,  whose  word  of  cheer  was  an  inspiration,  and 
whose  memory — shrined  in  our  hearts — is  an  abiding 
benediction.  Within  a  few  months,  we  of  the  ministry 
have  been  called  on  to  part  with  tliree  of  oui'  lionored 
brethren — John  G.  Atterbury,  Artluir  Sandford,  and 
now  Charles  N,  Waldron.  We  are  parted  from  them 
for  a  season,  tliat  we  may  meet  with  tlicin  foi-  ever.  In 
deep  solemnity,  yet  in  sweet  faith  and  buoyant  hope,  we 
say  to  him  whose  face  death  lias  only  transfigured, 
"Good  night,"  my  father,  for  God's  little  while,  "good 


night "  till,   in  a  brighter  world,    you   greet  us  with  a 
sweet  "good  morrow."' 

The  life,  whose  earthly  career  is  closed,  was  a  Christian 
life,  well  rounded  out.  As  long  ago  as  1849,  Rev. 
Charles  N.  Waldron  began  his  ministry  at  East  Hamp- 
ton, L.  I.  A  few  months  later  he  removed  to  Cohoes, 
N.  Y.,  to  assume  the  pastorate  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church.  There,  for  the  long  period  of  thirty  years,  he 
lived  and  labored,  walking  with  God  in  the  sunshine  of 
home,  in  the  regular  visitation  of  his  people,  and,  in  tiie 
pulpit,  preaching  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God. 
How  sti'ong  the  ties  that  bound  his  people  to  the  ''good 
Dominie,"  He  saw  a  new  generation  rise  up  to  wait  on 
his  ministry  and  to  call  him  blessed.  Tears  fall  in  many 
a  home  in  Cohoes  to-day,  because  the  good  Dominie  has 
gone  home.  Yet  how  they  will  bless  God  that  so  re- 
cently he  was  among  them — that  so  recently  they  saw 
their  old  pastor  once  again,  and  heard  once  more  from 
his  lips  "the  old,  old  story  of  Jesus  and  His  love." 

lU'lieving  that  the  time  had  come  for  him  to  give  way 
to  a  younger  man,  became  to  Hillsdale,  Mich.,  in  1ST9. 
After  a  three  years'  ministry  of  great  usefulness  there, 
he  remove<l  to  our  own  city  in  1882.  He  would  spend 
life's  afternoon  free  from  the  burden  of  a  parish,  yet 
free  to  ex(Mcis('  his  gift  as  God  gave  him  opportunity. 
Comparatively  few  weie  the  Sabbaths,  when  he  did  not, 
in  some  of  our  pulpits,  lift  up  his  eloquent  voice  for 
Christ.  Tlic  smaller  and  wtviker  the  church,  the  more 
readily  would  he  minister.  All  our  clunches  revered 
the  man,  and  deliglited  in  his  ministrations.  Time  and 
again  witliin  three  years,  he  might  have  resumed  the 
pastoiate,  but  he  chose  rather  to  stand  in  the  brtnich  in 
a  time  of  vacancy,  or  to  serve  his  brethr«'n  when  sick- 
ness or  need  of  rest  and  vacation  detained  tlu-m  from 
thcii-  Hocks.      Vou  voui'selves  do  know  bow  full  and  ficr 


the  gospel  that  he  preached.  With  what  store  of  learn- 
ing, of  ripe  Christian  experience,  of  sweet  unction,  that 
eloquence  of  a  beautiful  soul,  did  he  present  Christ,  the 
hope  of  the  sinner,  the  joy  of  the  saint,  his  own  hope 
and  joy. 

The  whole  nature  of  the  man  is  revealed  to  us — his  in- 
most soul  laid  bare  to  our  view— when  we  know  that 
the  hymn,  which  was  daily  his  delight,  was  that  sweet- 
est of  gospel  hymns — the  hymn  of  Paul  Gerhardt — which 
has  been  so  beautifully  translated  by  James  W.  Alexan- 
der : 

O  sacred  head,  now  wounded, 

With  grief  and  shame  weighed  down, 
Now  scornfully  surrounded 

With  thorns,  thine  only  crown  ; 
O  sacred  head,  what  glory 

What  bliss  till  now  was  thine  ! 
Yet,  though  despised  and  gory, 

I  joy  to  call  thee  mine. 

What  thou,  my  Lord,  hast  suffered 

Was  all  for  sinners'  gain  ; 
Mine,  mine  was  the  transgression, 

But  thine  the  deadly  pain. 
I.o,  here  I  fall,  my  Saviour  ! 

'Tis  I  deserved  thy  place  ; 
Look  on  me  with  thy  favor. 

Vouchsafe  to  me  thy  grace. 

The  joy  can  ne'er  be  spoken, 

Above  all  joys  beside. 
When  in  thy  body  broken 

I  thus  with  safety  hide  ; 
My  Lord  of  Life,  desiring 

Thy  glory  now  to  see, 
Beside  thy  cross  expiring, 

I'd  breathe  my  soul  to  thee. 

What  language  shall  I  borrow 

To  thank  thee,  dearest  Friend, 
For  this  thy  dying  sorrow, 

Thy  pity  without  end  ? 


9 

Oh,  make  nie  thine  forever; 

And  should  I  fainting  be, 
Lord,  let  me  never,  never 

Outlive  my  love  to  thee. 

And  when  I  am  departing, 

Oh,  part  not  thou  from  me  ! 
When  mortal  pangs  are  darting, 

Come,  Lord,  and  set  me  free  ; 
And  when  my  heart  must  languish 

Amidst  the  final  throe, 
Release  me  from  thine  anguish, 

By  thine  own   pain  and  woe  ! 

Be  near  me  when  I'm  d3'ing. 

Oh,  show  thy  cross  to  mc  ! 
And  for  my  succor  tlying, 

Come,  Lord,  and  set  me  free  ; 
These  eyes,  new  faith  receiving. 

From  Jesus  shall  not  move, 
Vor  he  who  dies  believing. 

Dies  safely,  through  thv  love. 

This  hyiiiii  was,  to  Dr.  Waldion,  proi)lu'sy.  promise, 
and  ]jrayer.  Because  it  was  so,  ht^  was  a  man  full  of 
joy.  Wliat  Christian,  do  you  know,  who  walks  as  con- 
stantly in  tlic  sunsliinc  of  lioly  joy,  as  tiiis  man  did  '. 
Yet  full  well  he  knew,  that  some  day,  without  wainin^ 
of  its  coming,  lie  would  hear  a  voice  from  the  unseen 
calling  him,  and  he  would  go.  Tliis  thought  ros«^  in  his 
heart  at  moi-ningtidc,  connmnied  with  him  all  the  day. 
and  ahode  with  him  through  the  night  watches.  But  it 
cast  no  shadow  on  his  life  at  home,  no  cloud  upon  his 
})athway  abroad.  The  hymn,  he  daily  lead,  tells  us 
why.  This  hymn  reveals  to  us  the  well  spring  (»t  his 
great  joy  and  he  had  icached  the  highest  joy  a  man 
can  know.  For  that  joy  is  the  highest,  which,  while 
felt  U}  he  a  joy,  can  include  the  thought  of  death,  and 
clothe  itself  with  that  crowning  pathos.  In  Ins  mind, 
every  joy  did,  more  or  k'ss,  with  that  crowning  pathos 


10 

clothe  itself.  Hence  he  could  greet  his  brethren  at  all 
times  with  sweet  cheerfulness.  The  wit,  that  sparkled, 
but  never  wounded,  and  the  timely  quip  and  jest,  to  the 
accompaniment  of  merry  laughter,  came  tripping  from 
his  tongue.  And  then  the  safe  word,  the  word  of  advice 
and  encouragement  and  grave  counsel  came  with  gentle- 
ness and  manly  sympathy.  You  were  made  to  feel  in 
his  presence,  that  no  storm  of  earth  could  ever  cloud  the 
clearness,  or  trouble  the  calmness  of  his  perfect  trust  in 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  The  joy  of  the  Lord  was  his 
strength. 

I  used  to  think  that  the  ideal  end  of  a  Christian  min- 
ister was  exemplified  in  the  passing  away  of  John  Knox. 
Worn  out  with  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  he 
preached  at  the  installation  of  his  successor — the  old 
fervor  breaking  out  in  spite  of  bodily  weakness  once 
more  and  for  the  last  time.  He  descended  from  the 
pulpit  and,  with  feeble  steps,  passed  through  the  midst 
of  his  Hock,  as  they  took  their  places  on  the  street  to  see 
him  go,  and  watched  his  progress  down  the  Canongate 
till  he  reached  his  house.  Entering  in,  he  laid  him  down 
to  die.  At  the  end  of  a  week,  ho  said  :  "Now  the  end 
is  come,  and  I  commend  my  soul  to  God  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen." 

Since  I  saw  the  close  of  this  man's  earthly  course,  I 
have  been  of  another  mind.  He,  who  has  gone  home, 
'twas  he  that  had  the  ideal  ending  of  an  earthly  minis- 
try. His  mind  filled  with  his  message,  his  step  advanc- 
ing to  the  ])lace,  where  he  should  stand  as  God's  ambas- 
sadoi',  and,  instead  of  telling  how,  in  days  gone  by,  the 
ll(»ly  (ihost  said  :  "  Separate  me  Bainabas  and  Sniil  for 
the  work  whereto  I  havt;  called  llicm,"  to  lie.ii  Ibc 
Holy  (ibostsay:  *'Sepai-at('  im'(  'liailesNewin.iii  Wiildion 


11 

for  the  heavenly  ministry,  to  which  I  liave  called 
him,"  and  to  respond  to  the  call.  With  his  soul  to  say, 
Nmtc  dhniffis,  and  to  be  up  and  away,  this  made  a 
blessed  end.  For  him,  ripe  and  ready,  how  blessed  ;  but 
for  those  who  remain,  how  startling  and  how  solemn, 
and  how  sad  !  God  comfort  them  with  His  abonndmg 
consolations.     God  sustain  them  by  His  grace. 

For  the  church,  too,  that  looked  to  him.  as  for  a  sea- 
son their  minister  and  guide  we  make  our  })rayei'.  God 
comfort  them,  and  send  them  an  Elislia  to  take  the 
place  of  the  Elijah, who  has  been  so  gloiiously  translated 
to  the  heavenly  rest. 


MEMORIAL    SEEMOX 


MEMORIAL    SERMON. 


THIS  SERHrON  WAS  DELIVERED  AT  COHOES,  SUNDAY  MORNING 
THE    TWENTY-FIFTH    DAY   OF    MARCH,    EIGHTEEN   HUN- 
DRED AND  EIGHTY- EIGHT,  IN  COMPLIANCE  WITH  AN 
INVITATION  FROM  THE  CONSISTORY  OF  THE  RE- 
FORMED CHURCH,  OF  WHICH  DR.  WALDRON 
HAD  BEEN  THE  HONORED  AND  BELOVED 
PASTOR   FOR  THIRTY  YEARS. 


BY  ALEXANDER  DICKSON. 


Before  his  trandation  he  had  this  testimonij,  that  he 
pleased  God. — Heb.  xi :  5. 

In  coming  to  this  service  I  hardly  know  how  to  order  my 
speech  aright.  In  former  days,  when  you  were  "  jiass- 
ing  throiigli  the  valley  of  Baca,'"  it  was  better  than  my 
meat  and  drink  to  bring  with  my  sermon  some  heavenly 
bahn  for  the  hurt  in  the  heart,  and  by  my  prayers  to 
lead  you  to  the  "  Rock  that  is  higher  than  I.'"  But  I 
am  your  companion  in  tribulation  now,  and  ''1  am  so 
troubled  tliat  I  cannot  s])eak.'" 

The  kindly  manner  in  which  your  retiuest  was  pressed 
upon  me  by  your  Pastor  affected  me  deeply  ;  it  went 
right  to  my  heart  of  hearts.  Ho  told  me  what  you  said 
about  the  friendshii)  of  David  and  Jonathan,  and  the 
reason  you  sent  for  me  is  the  very  reason  why  1  felt  that  1 
could  not  come.  "Have  pity  upon  me,  have  pity  upon  me, 
0  ye,  my  friends  ;  for  the  hand  of  God  hath  touched  me.'" 

'  I's.  Lxxxiv:  (i.      -  Ps.  l.xi:  2.       '  Ps.  I.\.\vii:  I.       '  Job  xi.\:  lil. 


16 

When  our  minds  are  sore  stirred  within  us,  and  our 
hearts  are  bursting  with  emotion,  our  words  are  few. 
And  the  deepest  grief  is  dumb,  and  if  I  should  say  noth- 
ing to-day  my  silence  would  be  more  eloquent  than  the 
most  eloquent  eulogy  ever  pronounced.  But  I  may  not 
be  silent,  necessity  is  laid  upon  me,  and  I  must  address 
myself  to  my  "labour  of  love;'"  and  if  I  may  be  able  to 
say  anythiug  worthy  of  the  occasion  I  shall  count  myself 
happy.  And  as  there  are  some  strangers  here  this 
morning,  I  hope  they  will  pardon  my  personal  and 
familiar  way  of  talking  about  one  who  had  a  place  in  all 
our  homes,  and  a  better  place  in  all  our  hearts.  Our 
souls  were  "knit  together  in  love,""  and  when  the  sad 
tidings  came  that  "he  was  not""  it  seemed,  so  general 
was  the  sorrow,  that  there  was  one  dead  in  every  house. 

After  receiving  your  kind  invitation,  my  first  thought 
was  to  come  here  and  make  a  few  extemporaneous  re- 
marks, striving,  of  course,  to  speak  a  word  in  season  to 
myself,  and  "them  that  mourn  in  Zion,"' and  I  would 
rather  do  so  now;  but,  having  learned  by  experience  that 
when  the  heart  is  overwhelmed,  tlie  swift- winged  words, 
unless  tethered  witli  pen  and  ink,  are  apt  to  fly  away;  I 
have  written  down  what  I  have  to  offer,  as  an  humble 
tribute  to  the  blessed  memory  of  one  "of  whom  tlie 
world  was  not  worthy."'  And  that  my  thoughts  may  be 
ai>pro|)riate,  they  shall  twine  themselves  around  the  text 
which  seems  to  have  been  recorded  for  just  such  a  time 
as  this  :  "Before  his  translation  he  had  this  testimony, 
that  he  pleased  God."' 

About  thirty-nine  years  ago,  soon  after  leaving  the 
school  of  tlie  i)ro])hets  at  Princeton,  Charles  N.  Waldron 
came  to  make  me  a  visit.  It  was  of  a  Saturday  after- 
noon tliat  lie  ai'inved  at  my  fatliei-'s  liousc,  wliere  tluMV 

I  Id),   vi:   in.  c'ol.   ii:  i'.  Cuii.   v:  iM.         '   Isa.   Ixi:  ;'.. 

'   Ilcb.   xi:  :]S.  '■  llel).   xi;  ">. 


17 

was  a  welcome  ready  for  liini.  T  can  see  liim  now  as 
then;  his  steps  were  hght  and  eager;  his  form  was 
straight  and  slender;  his  locks  were  "hushy  and  black 
as  a  raven,'"  and  he  was  "withal  of  a  beautiful  coun- 
tenance, and  goodly  to  look  to."'  We  spent  the  evening 
in  taking  "sweet  counsel  together ;"  the  next  morning 
we  "walked  unto  the  house  of  God  in  company,"'  and 
he  preached  the  sermon,  taking  for  his  text  these  words  : 
"Enoch  walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not;  for  God  took 
him.'"  After  so  long  a  time  I  cannot  recall  the  plan  of 
that  sermon;  but  I  can  tell  you  something  about  the  im- 
pression  that  it  made  on   some  of  the  congregation. 

This  church  was  vacant  then ;  it  was  worse  than  vacant, 
it  was  closed;  it  was  worse  than  closed,  it  was  sold  for 
debt,  and  was  bought  by  four  friends— all  Eli's — whose 
hearts  "trembled  for  the  ark  of  God.'"  The  remnant 
"which  were  left  of  the  captivity ""  weie  in  great  dis- 
tress, and,  feeling  lonely,  and  desolate,  and  lunigry  for 
the  bread  of  heaven,  they  came  back  to  their  mother 
church  in  Waterford.  Most  of  them  were  present  that 
Sunday  morning  and  heard  that  sermon;  they  liked  it, 
they  were  delighted  with  it,  it  was  "a  feast  of  fat 
tbings.'"  Coming  down  from  the  pulpit,  I  intioduced 
them  to  tlie  preacher,  and  they  invited  him  to  spend  the 
next  Sunday  with  them  in  Gohoes.  and  he  came.  That 
was  in  the  sj^ring  of  lS4y,  and,  "  by  patient  continuance 
in  wt^ll-doing,""  he  preached  lierc^  till  the  summer  of 
187l».  And  in  these  days  of  a  peripatetic  ministry  that 
was  a  remarkable  record,  and  worthy  of  Mu'  biglicst 
commendation. 

That  first  sermon  of  oui-  "true  yokelVllow'"  was 
picaclicd  ill  about  liall' an  Ikuii;  but  tlw  lite  of  tlif 
preaclier  was  one  long  and  lovely  sermon  on  tbe  same 

'Ciint.  v:ll.     ■'  I.Sam,  xvi:  lli.       I's.lviH.     '  ( Wii.  v:  iM.       1  .Sam.  iv:  i:i. 
''  Nell,  i:  'J.      '  Isa.  x\v :  (i.     "  Rom.  ii:  7.      '  I'hil.  iv:  'A. 


18 

text,  and  he  was  preaching  it  always  and  everywhere, 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  in  the  house  and  by  the  way. 
His  greatest  desire  was  to  please  God,  and  I  think  he 
succeeded  better  than  the  most  of  us,  and  a  thousand 
times  better  than  some  of  us.  He  was  just,  and  gener- 
ous, and  honest,  and  upright,  and  amiable,  and  stead- 
fast, and  unmovable,  "always  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord.'"  His  lips  were  always  pure,  "like  lilies 
dropping  sweet  smelling  myrrh;'"  his  hands  were  always 
clean,  "that  bear  the  vessels  of  the  Lord;'"  his  heart  had 
always  "the  smell  of  a  field  which  the  Lord  hath 
blessed;'"  and  from  the  day  that  Jesus  washed  them  in 
his  blood,  his  feet  wore  beautiful  "  with  shoes,'"  "walk- 
ing in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord 
blameless."" 

As  soon  as  he  was  ordained  and  installed,  the  strip- 
ling shepherd  commenced  in  earnest  to  gather  together 
his  few  sheep  that  were  scattered  abroad,  and  winning 
them  back  from  their  wanderings  he  made  them  to  "he 
down  in  gi-een  pastures,'"  and  led  them  "beside  the  still 
waters;"  he  "  fed  them  also  with  the  finest  of  the  wheat, 
and  with  honey  out  of  the  rock."'  Many  who  were  not 
of  this  fold,  hearing  that  "there  was  corn  in  Egypt,"" 
came  to  buy,  and  as  the  corn  of  this  land,  like  the  gold 
of  Havilah,  was  good,  they  came  again  to  buy  ;  at  last 
they  came  to  stay,  because  they  could  not  stay  away; 
and  so  his  little  flock  gi-ew  larger,  and  still  larger,  till 
there  was  not  room  enough  in  the  former  little  fold,  and 
it  was  taken  down  and  this  costly  and  commodious 
sanctuary  was  built  in  its  place.  I  think  there  is  a 
proper  sense  in  wliich  it  may  bo  said  with  truth  and 
soberness,  that  Dr.  Waldron  was  the  saviour  of  this 
church;  lie  was  more,  he  was  "the  chariot  of  Israel  and 

'  I  Cor.  xv:  oS.     '^  Cant,  v:  i:i     '  Isa.  lii:  11.     '  Gen.  xxvii:  27. 
"  Cant,  vii:  1.    ''  Luke  i:  6.     '  Ps.  xxiii:  2.     *•  Ps.  Ixxxi:  Hi.     '■'  Gen.  xlii:  1. 


19 

the  horsemen  thereof.'*'  I  would  l»y  no  means  discour- 
age you  in  your  loving  purpose  to  set  a  tablet  in  the 
wall,  here  beside  the  pulpit,  sacred  to  Iiis  memory;  but 
to  me  it  seems  hardly  woi-th  while  to  do  so,  when  the 
temple  itself  is  his  monument. 

The  sermons  of  Dr.  Waldron  were  filled  with  the 
marrow  and  fatness  of  the  gos])el,  and  were  exceedingly 
interesting  and  instructive,  "like  ai)i)les  of  gold  in  pic- 
tures of  silver.'"  Having  received  a  good  classical  and 
tbeological  education  he  was  thorongldy  fnrnislied  i'oi 
his  high  calling.  Fewer  eyes  could  see  fnitliei'  down 
into  the  deep  things  of  God  than  those  that  looked 
tln-ougli  liis  si)ectacles.  He  liad  a  firm  faitli  in  tli*' 
divine  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  he  was  more  at 
home  in  them,  and  bettei-  acquainted  with  them,  than 
he  was  with  tbe  rooms  in  his  own  house.  The  woi-d  of 
God  dwelt  in  him  richly;  he  set  great  store  l)y  it;  he  liid 
it  in  his  heart,  and  was  constantly  "bringing  forth  out 
of  his  treasure  things  new  and  old."'  He  was  remarka- 
bly original,  and  often  very  ingenious  in  the  treatment 
of  a  subject,  and  bis  style  was  "clear  as  crystal,'"  like 
tbe  water  of  life  that  it  was.  In  the  analysis  of  a  text 
be  bad  no  sujterictr,  I  ([uestion  whether  he  bad  an  e(|ual. 
He  was  sucb  a  ready  writer  tbat  it  was  easy  for  bini  to 
]»i'ei)ai-e  foi'  tbe  jiulpit.  He  would  select  bis  tbenie  early 
in  tbe  week  and  keep  turiiing  it  over  in  bis  mind.  and. 
wben  tbe  tbougbts  suggested  by  it  were  all  set  in  order, 
be  would  take  bis  ])olisbed  pen  and  transfer  tlieiii  t«i 
"tbe  itarcbments,"  sometimes  at  a  single  sitting.  "Tbr 
preacber  sougbt  to  tind  out  acci'lttable  woids.  and  that 
which  was  written  was  upright,  even  wtuds  of  triith."'* 
The  woiks  (d"  (lod  were  as  fanuliai'  to  him  as  the  word 
of  (Jod,  and  from  both  these  gardens <d"  "glorious  beauty'" 

'  II  KiiiKS  ii:  12.     ''  Prov.  xxv:  11.      '  Math.  .\iii:  r>2.     *  Rev.  xxii:  1. 
II    Tim    iv:  1:5,      ''  Eccl.  .\ii:  10.       '  l.sa.  xxviii:  4. 


20 

he  gathered  all  kinds  of  eml)lems,  and  flowers,  and 
fruits  to  illustrate,  and  embellish  and  enrich  his  dis- 
courses. He  was  a  "  cunning  workman,  and  an  embroid- 
erer in  blue,  and  in  purple,  and  in  scarlet,  and  in  fine 
linen.  "*  And,  best  of  all,  he  practiced  what  he  preached, 
and  lived  to  "adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in 
all  things.'"  As  he  did  not  always  take  his  notes  with 
him  into  the  pulpit,  you  may  have  thought  that  he 
preached  sometimes  without  any  preparation,  but  he 
never  did.  His  timely  and  touching  addresses  at  the 
Lord's  Table,  his  familiar  talks  at  the  prayer  meeting, 
and  his  "comfortable  words,'"  when  he  buried  your  be- 
loved dead,  were  all  carefully  prepared  beforehand,  and 
he  never  offered  unto  the  Lord  of  that  which  cost  him 
nothing.  He  knew  that  the  candlestick  was  made  of 
"beaten  gold,'"  that  it  was  supplied  with  "beaten  oil,'" 
and  that  the  beaten  oil  always  burns  the  brightest.  He 
was  a  rapid  speaker,  as  well  as  a  ready  writer,  and  could 
say  very  much  in  a  very  little  while,  and  so  he  never 
wearied  your  patience,  as  I  have  often  done.  He  deliv- 
ered his  sermons  with  great  seriousness  and  solemnity, 
as  if  he  had  "a  message  from  God.""  He  had  very  little 
action  in  the  pulpit,  and  sometimes  none  at  all,  and  his 
gestures  were  few,  but  his  words  of  burning  fire  were 
proclaimed  with  energy,  earnestness,  and  "an  unction 
from  the  Holy  One.'"  As  the  heart,  panting  after  the 
water  brooks,  brings  with  it  the  scent  of  the  plants  and 
the  flowers  that  grow  upon  its  native  hills,  so  our  Eh  jab 
came  down  into  this  sacred  desk  every  Sabbatli  day  fresh 
from  the  Mountains  of  Myi-rh  and  thi^  hills  of  fi-ankin- 
cense,  shaking  from  the  folds  of  his  mantle  the  smell  of 
heaven,  and  flinging  from  his  very  shoes  the  sweet 
pj-rfumc  of  Sharon's  fail- and  bl(>('diiig  rose.     But  T  need 

'  ICxod.  xxxviii:  23.        '^  Tit.  ii:  10.       ■'■  Zccli.  i:  IM.      '  Numb,  viii:  4. 
*  Numb,  xxv/'/i:  h.      ''JucIr.  iii:L'().       ■  Inu.  ii:  L'O. 


21 

not  enlarge,  the  fact  that  you  hstened  to  him  so  long, 
with  increasing  i)leasui-e  and  in'otit,  is  evidence  enough 
that  he  was  one  of  the  ahlest  niinisteis  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament; "a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  he  ashamed 
rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth."' 

Dr.  W^aldron  had  the  gift  and  the  grace  of  prayer  and 
supplication  in  a  preeminent  degree.  In  leading  the 
devotional  worslii})  of  the  sanctuary  he  was  perfectly  at 
hcjnie;  and  altliough  he  prayed  as  fluently  as  he  preached, 
he  never  hesitated  for  a  moment,  and  every  word  was 
the  right  word  and  in  the  right  place;  and  he  made 
known  his  requests  unto  God  with  a  fervency  and  a 
felicity  of  expression  which  was  so  remarkahle,  that 
those  who  heard  him  hut  once  will  never  forget  him. 
The  Bihle  was  his  prayer  hook,  as  well  as  his  text  hook, 
and  his  ]»etitions  were  always  featlieied  with  some  sure 
word  of  in'omise.  It  would  not  he  possihle  to  descrihe 
tlu^  solenniity.  tlie  s})irituahty,  and  the  heauty  with 
wliicli  lie  poured  out  liis  soul  at  tlie  ]\Iercy  Seat.  As  well 
might  I  attempt  to  paint  the  rainhow,  or  descrihe  tlie 
fragrance  of  "a  hed  of  si)ices'"'  as  to  depict  the  incense 
of  his  intercessions.  He  walked  so  close  with  God,  and 
pleased  him  so  perfectly,  that  he  could  not  help  praying- 
well,  as  with  * '  golden  vials  full  of  odours. '"  He  dearly 
loved  his  church,  he  was  "to  the  manor  horn;"  hut  he 
never  used  lier  ancient  and  excellent  Liturgy.  He  did  not 
use  the  forms  of  prayer,  even  when  he  was  administering 
tlie  Sacraments.  He  had  no  need  of  crutches  in  goingto 
the  throne  of  grace.  In  going  to  tlie  tlnone  of  grace  did  1 
say  ^  he  was  always  there,  "praying  always  with  all 
prayer."' 

In  the  heginning  it  was  not.  I  helieve.  t»ui-  heloved 
hrother's  pnipose  to  he  a  niinistei-.  He  had  other  plans, 
and  was  [(leasing  liod  in  another  and  a  very  i-ongenial 
'  11  Tim.  ii:  15.         Cant,  v:  13.  Kcv.  v:  S.       ^  Eph.  vi:  18. 


22 

employment.  But  he  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  calhng 
him  to  come  away,  and  be  a  co-worker  with  God  in 
making  this  bad  world  better;  "and  he  went  out,  not 
knowing  whither  he  went,'"  but  he  knew  with  whom  he 
went.  He  was  mending  his  nets  in  a  Banking  house  in 
his  native  city,  and  he  had  a  genius  for  that  kind  of 
business,  and  his  prospects  were  better  than  good. 
Eiches  and  honor  were  before  him,  but  he  would  not  be 
"disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,"' and  straightway 
left  all  to  walk  with  Him  who  "jileased  not  Himself,"' 
and  had  "not  where  to  lay  his  head;'"  "esteeming  the 
reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  in 
Egypt.'"  And  before  his  translation  he  learned,  by  his 
own  experience,  that  God  is  a  good  paymaster,  and  that 
those  who  forsake  houses  and  lands  and  such  like  things 
for  His  sake  and  the  gospel's,  ' '  shall  receive  an  hundred 
fold  now  in  thy  time."" 

Dr.  Waldron  was  a  very  happy  man.  I  have  some- 
times thought  that  he  was  the  happiest  man  that  I  have 
ever  known.  He  was  like  "the  light  of  the  morning 
when  the  sun  riseth,  even  a  morning  without  clouds;  as 
the  tender  grass  springing  out  of  the  earth  by  cleai' 
shining  after  rain."'.  He  was  blessed  with  a  cheerful 
disposition  that  he  might  be  a  benediction  to  others. 
His  mind  was  like  Aaron's  rod  that  * '  budded  and  brought 
foith  buds,  and  bloomed  l)lossoms  and  yielded  almonds."" 
His  s})irit  was  a  well  spring  of  joyfulness  which  was 
constantly  lising  up,  and  running  over,  and  running 
d(nvn  in  every  direction  like  "streams  from  Lebanon."' 
1  never  found  him  in  the  "Slough  of  Despond,"  nor  in 
"Doul)ting  Castle."  Those  who  please  God  always,  and 
walk  close  with  Him,  never  get  into  such  dreadful 
places.     Even  when  lie  was  passing  under  tiie  daikest 

'Heb.  xi.  8.    '  Actsxxvi.:  19.    ^Rom.xv:3.    ■*  Matt,  viii:  20.    ''Heb.  xi:2U. 
''MarkxiSO.     MI  Sam.  xxiii:  4.     "  Numb,  xvii:  8.     '' Cant,  iv:  15. 


2a 

clouds,  he  could  see  the  briglit  lio:ht  that  was  in  them; 
and  his  greatest  griefs  were  heautitied  witli  the  giace  ut 
gladness.  His  glorying  slept  so  lightly  that  the  softest 
touch  waked  it,  and  he  was  so  full  of  elasticity  that  he 
sjjeedily  rel)Ounded  from  the  heaviest  blows,  and  his 
heart  was  always  palpitating  with  pleasant  and  playful 
emotions;  "as  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing/"  I  have 
said  tliat  his  life  was  one  long  sermon,  and  it  was;  but  it 
was  a  thanksgiving  sermon — a  thanks  living  sermon — a 
sermon  in  song.  He  walked  with  God,  and  God  walked 
with  liiin;  so  tliey  twain  went  on  their  shining  way 
togetlier — the  Master  and  His  servant,  the  Father  and 
His  son — and,  as  they  went,  the  beautiful  goings  of  their 
blessed  f(^(4  niadt^  the  music  of  heaven  upon  the  eai'th. 
He  believed  that  our  religion  was  designed  to  make  men 
hapi)y  as  Avell  as  holy,  and  that  the  holiest  christian 
ought  to  be  the  happiest  chiistian.  His  coming  into  oui' 
homes  was  like  the  double  light  of  noon,  and  when  he 
de})arted  the  light  of  his  smiling  face,  and  the  bright 
ness,  and  brilliancy,  and  charming  mirtbfulness  of  his 
conversation  lingered  with  us  till  be  came  again,  and  we 
were  often  somewhat  moi'e  than  tilled  with  bis  company. 
The  kist  time  be  went  abroad  be  wrote  to  me  every 
M(»nday  moining.  informing  me  where  he  bad  been  and 
wiiat  be  bad  seen  and  beaid  the  iu'evious  week:  and 
these  love-letters,  especially  those  from  Ireland,  were 
amnsing  beyond  all  telling.  His  i)en  was  like  his  tongue, 
and  both  were  like  the  rosy  fingers  of  the  nu)rning. 
(bopping  light  and  love,  and  joy  and  gladness  all  around. 
It  so  pleased  God  that  the  death  of  His  loving  leal- 
liearted  servant  was  very  sudden.  And  such  an  unex- 
pected depaitiu'e  is  generally  not  to  be  desired— because 
so  few  are  prepared  foi-  it.  and  so  they  often  pray  to  be 
delivei'ed  fnun  it     bnt   to  bim  whose  chief  end  it  was  to 

'   11  Cor.  vi:  10. 


24 

please  God,  sudden  death  was  a  special  favoi-,  and  his 
gentle  dismissal  from  the  body  was  the  beginning  of  the 
beatific  vision.  It  was  at  the  week  Evening  Meeting  of  the 
church,  and  he  was  going  up  into  the  "high  mountain 
apart '"  to  pray,  when  he  was  called  to  come  up  higher. 
He  was  very  near  the  altar,  and  "ready  to  be  offered,'" 
when  he  fainted  and  fell.  Immediately  the  friends  who 
were  present  gathered  around  him.  A  gentle  lady  lifted 
his  good  gray  head  into  her  lap,  and  thus  he  fell  asleep. 
He  had  no  sick  bed,  no  wearisome  night,  no  tossing  to 
and  fro.  What  a  mercy  I  He  had  no  dying  bed,  he 
went  away  without  undressing,  and  was  spared  the  pain 
of  parting  with  those  who  were  at  home  in  his  house. 
What  a  wonderful  mercy  I  Was  that  dying '.  No;  it 
was  a  translation — it  was  a  transfiguration ;  "as  he 
prayed  the  fashion  of  his  countenance  was  altered.'" 
The  One  with  whom  he  walked  put  His  arm  aiound 
him,  and  laid  His  hand  on  his  heart,  not  harshly,  but 
tenderly,  as  the  harper  sometimes  lays  his  hand  on  the 
strings  of  his  harp — not  to  silence,  but  to  soften  the 
vibrations  and  sweeten  the  music  of  the  lovely  song. 
' '  Mark  the  perfect  man  and  behold  the  upright,  for  the 
end  of  that  man  is  peace. '"  The  son  of  Bosor  is  not  the  only 
person  who  has  been  constrained  to  say  :  ' '  Let  me  die 
the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his.'" 
In  the  catacombs  at  Rome,  there  is  sometimes  found  a 
stone  on  which  a  pair  of  empty  shoes  was  rudely  carved. 
How  simple,  yet  how  significant  such  an  emblem  was  to 
mark  the  holy  grave,  where  ends  the  eaithly  and  where 
begins  the  heavenly  walk  with  God;  and  how  very  ap- 
propriate such  a  symb(;l  would  l)e  to  keep  in  perpetual 
remembi-ance  the  life  and  deatli  of  our  departed  fi'iend. 
Tbe  emjtty  slioes  would  tell  tluil    be  w  lio  used  to  wear 

'  ,M;itt.  xvii:  1.      '  II  Tim.  iv:  0.      '  Luke  ix:  2!t.     '  Ps.  xxxvii:  37. 
''  Numb,  xxiii:  10. 


25 

them  walked  with  God  while  here  below,  and  that  he 
is  walking  still  with  God  within  the  vail.  Wlnni  onv 
Enoch  iMitert'd  into  the  "Holiest  (tf  all"'  he  pnt  off  liis 
shoes  from  otf  his  feet,  and  left  them  Iumc  with  us  as 
his  hest  memorial.  I  do  not  know  what  his  epitaph 
will  he.  hut  this  shall  he  his  eulogy  :  "  Before  his  trans- 
lation he  had  this  testimony  that  he  pleased  God."' 

Di-.  Waldrou  had  many  admiring  fiiends  wherevei-  he 
was  known,  and  especially  in  this  church  from  which 
his  heart  never  went  away,  and  he  will  he  missed  as 
much  as  he  will  he  mourned.  But  the  exceeding  great- 
ness of  your  loss,  and  mine,  is  less  than  nothing  when 
set  over  against  his  and  heaven's  gain.  He  ])leased  God. 
and  God  ])leased  him,  and  we  ought  to  he  pk'ased.  We 
ought  to  he  jdeased  to  remend)ei-  that  we  had  such  a 
minister,  and  that  we  had  him  so  long.  We  ought  to 
he  [(leased  to  know  that  on  this  "goodly  Mountaiu  "' 
there  grew  u)*  such  a  "goodly  cedar."'  and  that  h»i'  thii  t\ 
years  wi'  sat  down  under  his  shadow  with  great  dehght. 
And  now  that  "the  cedar  is  fallen."'  we  ouglit  to 
he  just  as  weU  pleased  to  think  that  "the  carpeii 
ter's  son"'  found  among  om- companions  sucli  a  splemhd 
piece  of  tinii)er  for  tenn)le  huilding;  and  tliat  already  he 
has  been  trans[)orted  to  take  his  own  place  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord  on  high,  according  to  the  piouiise  nt  the 
Master  Builder,  "Him  that  overcometh  will  1  make  a 
pillai- in  the  temple  of  my  (iod."  So.  too,  should  those 
he  pleased  to  whom  he  was  the  uearest  and  deaii'st  of 
all  those  who  called  him  hushand,  and  fathei-,  and 
brother  such  a  hushan<l,  such  a  lather,  such  a  hmlher 
i>\\r  who  walked  so  dctse  with  (iod.  and  kept  the  taith  so 
well     (iiie  w  ho  li\ed  so  (li\  iiie  a  life,  and  died  So  diviue  a 

'  Heb.  i.v;  lU.  UlL).  xi:  5.  Dciit.  iii:  lV).  '  I'zek.  xvii:  'Jo. 

■•  Zecli.  xi:  'J.  "  Matt,  xiii:  5.'). 


26 

death  !  Surely  those  who  loved  him  most  should  grudge 
him  least  his  glorious  welcome  home. 

Wheu  Mary  of  Bethany  brought  her  costly  offering, 
and  broke  her  Alabaster  box  at  Jesus'  feet  and  anointed 
his  body  beforehand  for  the  burial,  the  record  says,  that 
*'the  house  was  filled  with  the  odour  of  the  ointment/'' 
Solomon  tells  us  that  "a  good  name  is  better  than 
precious  ointment,  and  the  day  of  death  than  the  day  of 
one's  birth.'''  Our  dear  departed  friend  did  not  like 
funeral  sermons,  nor  memorial  services.  He  was  such  a 
modest  man,  and  always  felt  so  much  like  hiding  ' '  him- 
self among  the  stuff,'"  that  I  am  sure  and  certain  he 
will  never  thank  us  for  what  we  are  this  da}''  doing. 
But  the  Alabaster  box  is  broken  now,  and  the  precious 
ointment  of  his  good  name  is  poured  forth;  it  could  be 
self-contained  no  longer  after  the  box  was  broken;  it  is 
spreading  fast  and  far  abroad.  This  house  which  he 
builded  is  more  than  filled  with  the  sweet  perfume,  and 
from  tliese  sacred  walls  the  fi-agrance  will  nevei'  forever 
depart.  ''The  righteous  shall  be  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance.'" 

My  "labour  of  love '"  is  now  done.  I  wish  that  I  could 
have  done  it  better.  My  heart  and  mind  both  were 
willing,  as  you  well  know;  but  how  to  perform  that 
vviiich  I  would,  I  could  not.  "I  was  dumb  witli 
silence;  I  held  my  peace  even  from  good;  and  my  sorrow 
was  stirred.'" 

My  brother,   so  far  away  and  yet  so  near,   farewell  ! 

We  rej(nced  together;    we  wept  together;    we  I'oomed 

together;  we  worked  together,  and  we  talked  togetlier 

concerning  tlie  tilings  whicli   we   "'made  touclnng  the 

King.'"      "  TliriT  shall  be  two  men   in   one   lied;   the  one 

shall  Ih'  taken  and  the  other  shall  he  lelt."". 

'  Jno.  xii:  :{.        '  Kccl.  vii:  1.        '  1  Sam.  x:  L'L'.       '  Ps.  ixii:  (1. 
«  Heb.  vi:  10.         "  Ts..  xxxix:  2.  •  Ps.  xl\ :  1.         "  l.ukt  xvii.  :{4. 


27 

Dearly  beloved,  your  fathers  and  mothers  called  us 
David  and  Jonathan,  and  so  did  some  of  you. 

"My  brother  Jonathan,'"  farewell  I  "Very  })leasant 
has  thou  been  unto  me."  Till  we  meet  again,  and  thou 
slialt  say  hail  to  me,  in  the  old  familiar  way,  I  must,  say 
to  thee  once  more,  farewell  I  and  ajjain  I  say,  farewell  I 
"The  Lord  watch  between  me  and  thee,  when  we  are 
absent  one  fiom  another.'" 

'  II  Sam.  i:  20.  '  Gen.  xxxi:49. 


"HK  WAS  rAKillT  UP  LNTO  TAKADISK; 


''HE  AVAS  CAUGHT  UP  INTO  rAllADISE.'' 

THIS   SERMON    ABOUT   PAUL's    RAPTl'RE   TO    HEAVEN, 

r>R.    WALDRON    LOVED   TO    PREACH, 

AND  BY  IT,  HE  BEING  DEAD,  YET  SPEAKETH." 


I  knetv  a  man  in  Christ  above  fourteen  years  ago 
{whether  in  the  body  I  cannot  tell,  or  whether  out  of  the 
body  I  cannot  tell — God  knoweth)  such  an  one  caught  up 
to  the  third  heaven  and  heard  unspeakable  words,  ivhich 
it  is  not  laivful  for  a  man  to  utter. — II  Corinthians 
xii.     2  and  part  of  4  vr. 

Our  text  sets  before  us  an  incident  in  Paul's  experience 
which  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  his  long 
and  eventful  life. 

Paul's  history  as  given  to  us  in  the  inspired  volume  is 
crowded  with  strange  and  wonderful  events,  and  it  is 
this  which  gives  an  interest  to  the  record  of  his  inner 
and  outward  experience.  Paul  was  a  wonderful  man 
and  wonderful  were  the  events  of  his  earthly  biography. 
For  example  : 

First  -His  life  before  his  conversion,  when  he 
was  by  his  own  confession  "the  chief  of  sinners." 
his  hands  stained  with  the  blood  of  llu^  martyrs,  his 
heart  pulFed  up  with  I'luuisaical  i)ride  and  bigotry, 
his  lips  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughters 
against  the  followers  of  the  Nazarene. 


32 

Second — And  then  the  manner  of  this  man's  conver- 
sion on  the  road  to  Damascus,  when  the  crucified  and 
ascended  Saviour  met  him  in  the  way,  called  him  by 
name,  charged  sin  home  to  his  heart,  and  subdued  him 
by  the  power  of  his  grace. 

Third — And  then  the  visions  he  had  of  his  glorified 
Redeemer  in  Jerusalem,  in  Corinth  and  in  the  midst  of 
the  storm  on  the  Mediterranean. 

Fourth — And  then  this  man's  strange  courage  and 
fidelity  amid  all  the  trials  and  temptations  which  beset 
his  path. 

Fifth — And  then  the  heights  of  Christian  knowledge 
which  above  all  others  he  attained,  and  the  depths  of 
Christian  experience  which  he  fathomed. 

Sixth — And  then  the  impress  which  he  has  left,  not 
only  upon  the  Apostolic  church — but  upon  the  church 
and  the  world — everywhere  and  in  all  ages. 

These  and  other  facts  in  his  history  which  we  might 
mention  give  an  interest  to  that  history, which  is  pos- 
sessed by  few  who  have  lived  on  the  earth.  Next  to  the 
life  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  there  is  no  life  in  the  New 
Testament  history, which  is  set  before  us  so  clearly  and  so 
fully  as  that  of  this  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  and 
for  this  reason— this  prominence  the  word  of  God  gives 
him— for  this  reason  it  should  demand  our  careful  atten- 
tion and  study. 

Now  among  the  remarkable  and  vv^ondrous  events  of 
this  man's  life,  this  incident  in  our  text  which  he  tells  the 
church  of  Corinth  is  far  from  being  the  least  :  Paul 
in  this  thing  seems  to  stand  solitary  apd  alone;  there 
is  nothing  like  it  before  it;  there  is  certainly  nothing  like 
it  after  it 

This  man,  yeais  before  he  entered  heaven  and  was 
"with  Christ,  which  is  far  better,"  it  was  his  honor  and 
privilege    for    a    season,    to    stand    in    that    world    of 


.S8 

glory,  to  behold  the  sights,  to  hear  the  sounds  of  the 
saints  everlasting  rest.  It  is  Paul's  rapture  to  heaven, 
this  honor  his  Saviour  conferred  upon  him,  this  marked 
event  among  the  "  visions  and  revelations  of  the  Lord  " 
to  which  your  attention  is  invited. 

Now  in  this  experience,  vouchsafed  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment saint,  there  is  much  that  is  hidden  and  mysterious. 
We  nmse  upon  it  but  there  is  a  depth  of  meaning 
which  we  cannot  fathom.  "The  well  is  deep  and  we 
have  nothing  to  draw  with."  So  it  was  ever  to  the  mind 
of  this  Apostle  as  he  thought  of  it,  pondered  over  it, 
told  the  story  to  the  church.  "I  cannot  tell,  God 
knoweth."  But  because  it  is  mysterious  we  are  not 
to  dismiss  it  from  our  attention.  It  is  recorded  Uke  all 
the  other  scripture  for  our  admonition  and  instruc- 
tion, and  we  are  to  study  it  therefore — not  in  the 
spirit  of  worldly  speculation  or  curiosit}' — but  in  tliat 
humble,  childlike  spirit  in  which  it  becomes  us  ever 
and  always,  to  listen  to  the  teachings  of  inspiration.  We 
often  find  in  our  study  of  God's  word,  that  the  parts 
which  are  the  hardest  to  be  understood,  wliich  call  out 
our  greatest  strength,  that  these  yield  to  us  tlie  most 
precious  fruit.  This  is  according  to  the  old  riddle  of 
Samson — "Out  of  the  eater  came  forth  meat  and  out  of 
tlie  strong  came  forth  sweetness." 

Now,  where  Paul  was  when  ho  was  thus  caught 
up  into  Paradise,  what  he  was  then  doing,  liow  long  he 
remained  tliere,  what  events  were  associated  witli  tliis 
wondrous  experience,  what  were  the  purposes  it  fulfilled  i 
These  things  the  Apostle  does  not  tell  us.  The  record  is 
briefjWe  should  all  like  to  hear  more;  there  are  many  curious 
questions  which  come  up  in  our  hearts,  but  the  vail  is 
drawn — inspiration  is  silent.  Tliere  are,  however,  as  we 
study  the  record,  several  remarkable  circumstances  which 
teach  us  lessons  of  wisdom,  and  which  make  this  incident 


34 

in  Paul's  experience  "profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness." 

We  do  not  propose  to  make  any  attempt  this  morning  to 
fathom  the  mystery  of  this  event.  We  desire  to  call  your 
attention  to  some  practical  lessons  we  gather  from  it,  and 
in  which  we  all  have  a  personal  interest. 

What  then  are  some  of  the  remarkable  things  which 
are  connected  with  Paul's  rapture  to  heaven  ? 

I.  The  first  is  this — The  peculiar  and  unusual  manner 
in  which  Paul  speaks  of  himself.  Now  if  you  look  at 
the  record  you  will  find  that  Paul,  in  relating  his  expe- 
rience, uses  not  the  first  person,  but  the  third  person. 
At  first  we  would  suppose  that  he  was  speaking,  not  of 
himself,  but  of  another.  "I  knew  a  man,"  says  Paul, 
"above  fourteen  years  ago."  If  we  had  no  further  light 
we  would  infer  that  the  Apostle  was  speaking  of  some 
other  man,  some  former  acquaintance,  some  friend  he 
had  known  in  earlier  days.  He  seems  to  be  telling  us 
a  story;  not  in  reference  to  his  own  personal  experience, 
but  something  he  had  heard  from  the  lips  of  another. 
"I  knew  a  man";  "such  a  man";  he  was  caught  up  into 
paradise. 

Now  that  this  man  was  Paul  himself,  that  it  was 
an  incident  in  his  own  personal  experience,  an  event 
in  his  own  individual  life.  This  is  evident  from  his 
language  in  the  seventli  verse.  "  Lest  I  should  be 
exalted  above  measure."  We  learn,  therefore,  that  he 
was  the  individual  th\is  honored  and  favored — that  Paul 
here  is  speaking  to  the  Corintliian  disciples  from  the 
treasures  of  liis  own  personal  experience. 

Wliy  then,  the  question  comes  up,  why  does  he  use 
this  singular  form  of  speech,  as  if  it  was  not  liinis(^lf  but 
anotli(!i'  ?  It  is  difficnlt  to  answer  tliat  (jiu^stion.  Some 
suppose  that  this  might  \)o  tlie  I'ciason  :  AVhen  riiul 
looked     at      liiinsclC     when    he    wrote  tliesi;    words,    a 


35 

man  struggling,  tempted,  buffeted  by  satan,  com- 
passed about  with  the  infirmities  of  the  flesh  and  spirit, 
with  fears  within  and  fightings  without.  When  he 
thought  of  what  he  was  at  that  present  time,  and  then 
back  fourteen  years  and  called  to  mind  what  he  was  in  that 
past  time — a  man  amid  the  rests  and  raptures  of  heaven 
— it  seemed  to  him  that  these  two  states  were  so  entirely 
different  and  diverse  that  it  could  not  be  he  ;  it  must  be 
some  other  person.  Everything  on  earth,  within  and 
without  him,  was  so  different  from  what  he  had  seen 
and  heard  and  felt  in  heaven  that  perhaps  he  wondered 
if  he  had  ever  been  there. 

There  may,  my  friends,  be  something  of  the  same 
feeling  which  will  come  over  the  heart  of  the  redeemed 
the  moment  it  leaves  earth  and  enters  heaven.  There 
will  be  such  a  striking  and  marked  difference  between 
an  experience  in  grace  and  an  experience  in  glory. 
Such  a  contrast  between  the  familiar  sights  of  time  and 
the  strange  and  stupendous  visions  of  eternity.  Such 
a  change  between  what  we  are  now  and  what  we  will 
be  then  that  the  saint  in  heaven  will  wonder  whether 
the  soul — at  peace,  at  rest,  completely  sanctified  and  re- 
deemed— can  be  the  same  soul  which  was  tried  and 
tempted,  the  sinful,  the  sorrowing  soul  on  earth. 

Our  history  here  below  may  seem  to  us  then  as 
Paul's  rapture  to  heaven  appeared  to  him  when  he  told 
the  story  to  the  church,  our  hearts  may  answer 
to  his,  we  may  come  in  sympathy  with  the  self-same 
experience  recorded  in  our  text.  So  strangely  dif- 
ferent will  be  an  experience  on  earth  from  an  experience 
in  heaven  that  when  we  reach  heaven  we  will  be 
lost  in  wonder  and  sweet  surprise,  whether  the  heart 
amid  holy  rapture  is  the  same  heart  which  once  felt  the 
sins  and  sorrows  of  earth,  we  may  then  exclaim  in 
tlie   same    spirit   with    wliiih    Paul   wrote   thes*'   words. 


"I  wonder  if  it.is  I  myself."  "  I  knew  a  man  in  Christ." 
"  Can  it  be — it  must  be  that  I  am  he  !" 

II.  Another  remarkable  thing  in  the  nari'ative  is 
Paul's  designation  of  himself.  He  is  about  to  speak  of 
himself.  Now  how  does  he  describe  himself  ?  What 
title  does  he  make  use  of  ?  What  is  the  word  of  his 
own  choosing  ? 

It  is  not  by  his  lineage — we  know  that  he  gloried 
that  he  was  of  "the  stock  of  Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin, an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews."  He  was  proud 
that  in  his  veins  there  was  no  Gentile  and  idolatrous 
blood  ;  but  he  does  not  say,  "I  knew  a  man  who  was  a 
Jew."  Nor  yet,  was  it  by  his  nationality,  "although  he 
clung  to  his  citizenship,  rejoiced  that  he  was  'free-born,' 
made  it  the  ground  of  his  appeal  to  Ccesar ;  but  he  does 
not  say,  '  I  knew  a  man  w^ho  was  a  Eoman  citizen. '  " 
Nor  yet  again  was  it  by  his  office  in  the  church,  although 
it  was  the  highest  in  the  church  and  in  it  he  was  not 
a  whit  behind  the  chiefest  of  his  fellow  disciples,  he  does 
not  say  "  I  knew  a  man  who  w^as  an  Apostle." 

But  there  is  another  title  which  Paul,  not  as  a  Jew,  as 
a  Roman,  as  an  Apostle,  but  another  title  which  Paul  as 
a  sinner  takes  to  himself.  It  is  greater  and  better  than 
all,  it  is  brief,  but  very  comprehensive,  it  is  simple,  but 
full  of  precious  meaning.  "  I  knew^  a  man  in  Christ."  It 
is  the  word  of  spiritual  strength,  of  precious  assurance,  of 
unspeakable  hope  !  No  matter  what  else  we  are  if  we 
are  only  this,  then  we  are  rich  indeed.  And  so,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  with  all  the  other  titles  we  may  receive  or 
earth  can  give  us,  we  are  destitute  of  this,  then  we  are 
poor  indeed  ! 

After  all,  it  is  not  strange  that  such  a  man  as  Paul — 
even  with  all  the  gifts  and  talents  wliicli  were  his, 
with  all  that  he  had  done  and  suffered  on  earth, 
with  all  the  high  offices  he  had   held   in   the  chuivh  - 


37 

should,  after  all  and  above  all,  select  this  as  his  best 
title  on  earth,  the  hope  to  which  he  clung,  the  rock  upon 
which  he  built.  That  man  was  in  Christ ;  if  he  had  not 
been  in  Christ  surely  he  never  would  have  been  caught 
up  into  heaven  where  Christ  is. 

This,  after  all,  is  the  best  designation  of  a  Christian, 
for  it  tells  us  why  he  is  such.  It  is  union  to  Christ, 
a  union  made  by  faith  and  the  Holy  Spirit  by  wiiich  we 
are  born  into  the  kingdom,  and  it  is  communion  with 
Christ — that  is,  the  root  of  all  Christian  life  and  growth. 
This  is  the  only  indispensable  condition  of  salvation  !  It 
is  not  church,  nor  creed,  nor  moral  life;  it  is  the  union 
of  the  branch  to  Christ  the  vine  ;  it  is  the  union  of  the 
member  to  Christ  the  head.  All  who  are  in  Christ  are 
saved  ;  all  who  are  out  of  Christ — in  the  light  of  God's 
w^ord  there  is  nothing  uncharitable  in  saying  it  all  who 
are  out  of  Christ  have  no  part  or  lot  in  Christ's  salvation. 

"  Let  names  and  sects  and  parties  fall, 
And  Jesus  Christ  be  all  in  all." 

III.  Another  point  in  the  narrative  \vbich  is  remarka- 
ble and  instructive  is  the  wonderful  humility  and  mod- 
esty of  this  Apostle.  Now  it  seems  strange  that  after 
Paul  had  enjoyed  this  beatific  vision  of  glory,  this  rap- 
ture to  the  third  heaven,  that  for  so  long  a  time  he  kept 
his  lips  closed  and  told  it  not  to  others.  Fourteen 
years  seem  to  have  passed  away,  aud  yet,  during  all  that 
time,  he  kept  this  wonderful  experience  bidden  in  the 
secrecy  of  his  heart.  "  He  told  the  vision  to  no  man." 
Paul,  no  doubt,  often  mused  u])on  it— this  mem- 
ory of  his  Saviour's  love,  this  day  of  the  right  hand  of 
his  Master's  i)resence  but  no  heart,  but  the  heart  which 
felt  it,  knew  aught  of  it.  Like  the  Virgin  Mother  he 
kept  this  token  of  his  Master's  grace  and  pondered  over 
it  iu  his  heart. 


38 

It  was  not  until  after  these  many  years  that  he  pub- 
hshed  the  record  of  his  high  and  holy  experience,  and 
when  he  did  it  he  seems  to  have  done  it  reluctantly; 
he  did  not  want  to;  he  was  compelled  to  do  it 
in  order  to  vindicate  his  right  to  the  Apostleship,  which 
some  in  Corinth  had  called  in  question.  Why,  then 
did  this  man  who  had  been  caught  up  into  heaven  say 
nothing  about  it;  why  did  he  close  his  lips  upon  this  theme 
which  revealed  so  much  the  honor  the  Master  had  con- 
ferred upon  him,  this  special  privilege  which  exalted  him 
above  his  fellow  Apostles  and  Disciples  ?  This  was  no 
doubt  the  reason  :  It  arose  from  the  humility  of  his  heart; 
he  shrunk  back  from  the  very  thought  of  publishing- 
far  and  wide  anything  which  might  tend  to  his  own  ex- 
altation or  excite  the  envy  of  others. 

One  remarkable  thing  about  Paul  is  this :  That  the  Apos- 
tle who  was  the  highest  in  dignity  was  just  as  high  and  as 
eminent  in  his  lowly  humility.  That  man  must  have 
brought  back  with  him  from  the  third  heavens  the  spirit 
which  reigns  there— that  of  abasement  and  humility — the 
spirit  which  vails  the  face  of  the  seraphim,  which  speaks  in 
the  songs  of  glory,  which  casts  the  crown  of  heaven  at  the 
feet  of  the  Lamb.  It  was  because  Paul  felt  in  his  heart 
what  he  loved  to  tell  with  his  lips.  "  I  know  nothing  of 
myself,  and  have  nothing  to  glory  in;"  it  was  because  he 
was  clothed  upon  with  humility  as  a  garment.  This  was 
the  reason  why  he  drew,  as  it  were,  a  vail  over  this 
vision  of  glory  and  would  not  speak  of  it  to  others. 

Now  it  is  wonderful,  as  we  study  the  life  of  St.  Paul, 
to  find  that  the  longer  he  lived  and  labored — the  nearer 
he  came  to  heaven — that  the  more  humble  he  grew. 
Paul  often  thought  of  this  question,  it  is  a  good  (juestion 
for  us  to  nmse  upon  :  "What  sort  of  a  man  am  If 
What  now  are  Paul's  standards  to  decide  tliat  question  i 

I.  First  he  compares  himself  with  Apostles.     "What 


39 

am  I  ill  contrast  witli  Peter,  James  and  John — with  the 
other  Apostles  of  my  Lord  f''  This  is  his  judgment  :  "T 
am  not  meet  to  be  called  an  Apostle." 

II.  Years  after  he  makes  another  comparison  ;  he  has 
another  standard ;  he  comes  down  lower — not  with 
Apostles,  bnt  with  Saints.  "What  am  I  in  the  house- 
hold of  faith,  among  my  brethren,  the  disci})les  of  my 
Master  ?"  This  is  his  decision  :  "  Less  than  the  least. of 
all  saints  I"  "  Less  than  the  least '' — that  is  poor  gram- 
mar, but  it  is  grand  theology. 

III.  2sow,  again,  just  before  his  translation  to  glory 
— when  he  stood  on  the  threshold  of  heaven  and 
life  to  him  was  a  thing  of  the  past — he  makes 
another  comparison,  not  with  Apostles,  not  with 
Saints,  but  he  comes  down  lowest  of  all — the  comparison 
is  with  sinners.  ''Among  sinners  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  who  and  what  am  I  r  Saul  of  Tarsus  says  :  *'()f 
sinners  I  am  the  chief  ?"  It  was  when  he  was  the  ripest 
for  heaven,  when  this  old  veteran  of  the  cross  was  "kneel- 
ing on  the  threshold  and  his  hand  upon  the  door,"  then 
he  had  the  most  humbling  views  of  himself — of  sinners' 
chief  I  Bishop  Taylor  says:  "  The  highest  flames  are 
the  most  trennilous,  and  so,  also,  the  highest  Christians 
are  the  most  eminent  for  their  reverence  and  humility." 

Now  Paul,  in  the  humility  of  his  heart,  as  he  con- 
cealed this  token  of  his  Saviour's  love  does  not  stand 
alone.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  Christian  experience, 
like  that  which  is  recorded  in  our  text,  which  the  disci- 
ple hides  away  in  his  own  heart  and  of  which  his  most 
intimate  friends  are  ignorant.  There  is  much  of  tlie 
Saviour's  dealings  with  the  believer,  the  revelation  of  his 
love  and  his  grace  upon  which  the  Master  seems  to  write 
that  saying,  "Tell  the  vision  to  no  man."  Our 
Christian  experience,  and  often  the  best  part  of  it,  is  a 
hidden   experience,  unknown   to  the  world  and   to  tiie 


40 

church.  For  example — who  can  tell  all  that  passed 
between  Jacob  and  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant,  as  they 
wrestled  at  Peniel  until  the  breaking  of  the  day  ? 
Who  can  tell  the  thoughts  which  passed  to  and  fro  be- 
tween Moses  and  Israel's  God,  when  for  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  they  were  on  Horeb  and  talked  together  as 
a  "friend  talketh  with  a  friend?" 

This  is  the  characteristic  of  the  Christian  hfe:  "Your 
life,"  says  Paul,  "is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  This  is 
the  meaning  of  that  promise  of  our  ascended  Saviour  : 
"  To  him  that  overcometh  I  will  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden 
Manna,  and  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  in  the 
stone  a  new  name  written  which  no  man  knoweth,  sav- 
ing he  that  receiveth  it.  We  need,  my  friends,  some- 
thing of  the  self-same  spirit  to  crucify  the  tendency  to 
spiritual  pride  when  we  would  tell  what  God  has  done  for 
us;  when  we  speak  of  it  we  are  to  do  it  in  the  humility  of 
our  hearts,  that  thus  the  glory  may  be — not  to  us — but 
to  him  to  whom  all  glory  is  due. 

There  is  another  point  in  this  wondrous  experience 
which  brings  out  the  humility  of  Paul,  and  that  is  the 
estimate  he  formed  of  this  rapture  to  glory.  Now,  my 
friends,  if  Paul's  experience  had  been  the  experience  of 
any  of  us,  if  we  had  been  partakers  of  this  high  honor 
and  privilege,  if  we  had  been  caught  up  into  paradise, 
had  seen  the  sights,  and  heard  the  songs  of  that  kingdom 
of  glory,  surely  we  would  regard  it  as  one  of  the  most 
marked  and  distinguishing  events  in  our  history.  We 
would  perhaps  put  it  "first  and  foremost;"  we  would 
love  to  muse  upon  it,  love  to  speak  of  it  to  others. 

Now  how  was  it  with  this  New  Testament  saint  ? 
In  the  range  of  his  Christian  experience,  where  did 
he  put  this  "  vision  and  revelation  of  tlie  Lord;"  what 
place  did  he  assign  to  it;  did  he  give  to  it  the  iireiimi- 
nence;  did  he  make  it  tlie  ground  of  boasting;  was  it  to 


41 

him  a  reason  for  his  exaltation  ?  Far  from  it  !  There 
was  something  else  which  he  put  far  above  it;  in 
comparison  with  it,  this  heavenly  rapture  was  but  as 
the  dust  in  the  balance.  "  Therefore,"  says  Paul,  just 
after  he  had  told  this  wondrous  story,  "  therefore,  I  take 
pleasure."  In  w^iat  ? — in  visions  of  faith,  in  raptures  to 
glory,  in  the  sights  and  sounds  of  paradise.  Not  so  I 
"I  take  pleasure  in  infirmities,  in  reproaches,  in  necessi- 
ties, in  persecutions,  in  distresses  for  Christ's  sake,"  and 
this  is  the  reason — ''for  when  I  am  weak  then  am  I 
strong." 

It  was  not  the  experience  of  heavenly  glory,  hut 
another  sort  of  experience,  that  experience  which 
told  him  how  weak  and  helpless  he  was,  and  how' 
mighty  and  loving  was  his  Master,  w^hich  annihi- 
lated the  pride  of  his  heart,  which  took  the  crown 
from  his  head  and  put  it  on  the  head  of  his  Saviour.  It 
was  to  this  that,  in  the  humility  of  his  heart,  he  clung 
and  to  which  he  gave  the  preeminence.  Heavenly 
ecstasy  was  as  nothing,  and  less  than  nothing,  in  com- 
parison with  sanctified  suifering  !  After  all,  this  is  the 
best  part  of  Christian  experience,  and  it  is  only  tlu' 
humble  in  heart  who  know^  it— that  exi)erienre  which 
teaches  us  our  weakness  and  intirmity  and  ''  leads  us  to 
the  rock  which  is  higher  than  we." 

IV.  Another  remarkable  ciicumstance  wbich  wt-  can 
only  briefly  mention  is  the  experience  which  followed 
after  this  raj)ture  to  heaven.  How  sti'angc  and  striking 
the  contrast  I  How  suddenly  eaith's  shadows  follow 
the  heavenly  sunshine  !  One  moment  Paul  is  in  heaven, 
a  companion  and  fellow  worshiper  of  the  holy  angels  : 
the  next  moment  he  is  on  earth  fighting  with  the  devil. 
One  moment  his  soul  is  tilled  with  unspeakabk'  ecstasy, 
and  the  next  moment  there  is  "a  sharp  thoin  in  the 
tlesh."    Such,  my  friends,  is  life  to  each  and  to  all  of  us — 


42 

full  of  unexpected  events  and  strange  contrasts.  There 
is  an  old  French  proverb,  "The  unforseen  always  hap- 
pens." To-day  tells  us  nothing  of  our  experience  to- 
morrow; from  our  highest  joy  we  may  go  down  to  our 
deepest  sorrow;  right  in  the  midst  of  our  joyous  exalta- 
tion we  may  find  "our  thorn  in  the  flesh." 

Job,  in  the  fulness  of  his  prosperity  and  in  the  pros- 
pect of  earthly  anticipation,  exclaimed  :  "I  shall  die  in 
my  nest  and  multiply  my  days  as  the  sand."  But  in  a 
moment,  and  unexpectedly,  God  stirred  up  that  nest 
and  scattered  it,  and  Job  found  himself  on  the  heap  of 
ashes,  with  a  potsherd  in  his  hand,  a  poor,  homeless, 
childless  man  ! 

We  often  need  just  such  a  discipline — "to  have  our 
hopes  o'erturned  and  prospects  crossed" — to  teach  us 
the  vanity  of  earth  and  all  earthly  things,  and  to  fix 
our  affections  on  those  things  which  are  unseen  and 
eternal. 

V.  Another  point  in  the  narrative  which  is  remarka- 
ble, and  so  remarkable  that  Paul  mentions  it  twice,  is 
his  ignorance  of  the  manner  of  his  translation  to  heaven. 
Now  Paul  was  not  in  any  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
event,  as  to  whether  it  was  a  real  and  actual  translation; 
but  here,  to  the  Apostle,  was  the  mystery — whether  in 
that  heavenly  rapture  the  soul  was  separated  from 
the  body  and  went  there  alone,  or  whether  soul  and 
body  together  were  admitted  to  paradise.  That  mys- 
tery Paul  did  not  attempt  to  fathom  and  compre- 
hend; he  left  it  there;  what  he  knew  not  was  known 
to  God;  "whether  in  the  body  I  cannot  tell,  or 
whether  out  of  the  body  I  cannot  tell — God  knoweth." 
Now  that  mystery — it  is  one  of  the  great  mysteries  of 
the  unseen  and  spiritual  world  to  which  we  are  all 
journeying— it  still  remains. 

For  example — We  know  at  death— the  Bible  teaches 


48 

us  this  doctrine — at  death  the  soul  goes  to  God  who  gave 
it.  Death,  we  know,  severs  the  tie  which  binds  the 
soul  to  the  body.  The  body  goes  back  to  its  kindred 
element,  "dust  to  dust."  Every  silent  coffin,  every 
new-made  grave  proves  this  saddening  truth.  But  the 
soul  "  dies  not  with  the  body,"  it  shakes  off  the  fetters  of 
mortality;  it  wings  its  way  to  an  unseen  world.  God, 
its  Creator,  the  Father  of  all  spirits,  claims  it  as  his  own, 
"it  returns  to  God  who  gave  it."  So  far  we  can  go, 
now  go  a  step  farther.  "  How  is  the  soul  carried  thither 
when  it  leaves  its  clayey  tenement  ?"  Here  is  a  mystery, 
and  the  more  we  study  it  the  more  we  are  perplexed  and 
bewildered.  After  all  our  inquiries  and  speculations 
we  come  to  this  conclusion — it  is  the  only  one  we  can 
reach,  with  it  we  nmst  be  satisfied  — "I  cannot  tell,  God 
knoweth." 

That  path  which  leads  from  the  couch  of  the  dying- 
believer  to  his  home  in  heaven ;  that  experience  which 
comes  the  moment  after  death,  this  tons  all  is  unknown 
and  untried  ;  but  it  is  all  open  and  naked  to  the  omnis- 
cient eye  of  our  God  and  Saviour,  and  this  surely,  to  the 
believer,  is  enough. 

"  I  will  come  and  receive  you  unto  myself."  That  is 
the  promise  of  the  Covenant,  but  w^hen  we  muse  upon  it 
and  tlie  (juestion  comes  uj),  how  is  it  that  the  Mas- 
ter will  fulfill  the  word  He  has  spoken;  how  does 
the  spirit  wing  its  way  to  tlie  place  where  Christ  is; 
how  is  it  that,  "absent  from  the  body,  we  are  i)resent 
witli  the  Lord^"  Here  "we  see  darkly  and  only  in  part." 
or,  rather,  we  do  not  see  at  all.  We  are  to  leave  that 
blessed  mystery  just  where  Paul  left  his,  believing  and 
rejoicing  that  which  we  cannot  tell,  the  f^ord  knowetli. 
and  will  bring  about  in  his  own  way. 

So,  also,  at  the  resurrection  and  the  second  coming 
of  our  Lord,  we  know  that  then  the  soul,  with  the  body. 


44 

will  appear  before  God  ;  at  death  it  is  the  soul  with- 
out the  body  ;  at  the  resurrection,  the  soul  with  the 
body. 

Paul's  translation  is  the  type  of  the  translation  of  all 
God's  people  who  will  be  living  on  earth  when  Christ 
comes,  for  the  Apostle,  in  describing  that  experience, 
uses  the  very  same  language  under  which  he  describes 
his  own.  "Then  we  who  are  alive  and  remain  will  be 
caught  up  together  with  them  " — that  is  the  dead  in 
Christ  who  rise  first — "to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air  and 
so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord." 

So  far  we  have  the  testimony  of  Christ,  but  when  we 
dwell  upon  this  wondrous  theme  :  The  dead  in  their 
graves,  hearing  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
awakening  from  their  slumber;  the  souls  of  the  de- 
parted coming  back  again  and  dwelling  in  their  quick- 
ened dust;  the  harvests  w^hich  will  then  spring  up 
in  glory  from  the  seeds  sown  in  corruption:  that 
change  which  is  to  be  wrought  in  a  moment,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump — who  can  dwell 
upon  this  theme  and  not  find  it  just  as  full  of  mystery 
as  that  which  Paul  found  in  his  rapture  to  heaven  ? 
This  is  the  way  in  which  we  are  to  meet  the  mysteries 
(jf  our  faith — believing  even  what  we  cannot  understand; 
rejoicing  that  what  we  know  not  and  cannot  tell,  God 
knoweth  and  God  will  provide. 

VI.  There  is  one  other  point  in  the  narrative — Paul's 
description  of  heaven  after  he  had  been  there.  Now 
suppose  th('  inspired  Apostle  should  come  to  us  with 
these  tidings  which  he  told  to  the  church  of  Corinth  ;  or, 
supi)Ose  that  to-day,  in  this  sanctuary,  one  should  stand 
before  us — a  man  wbo  had  crossed  the  threshold  of 
the  heavenly  gate,  wiio  had  seen  the  sights  and  heard 
the  sounds  of  the  saints'  everlasting  rest,  who  had 
returned  again,  after    such  an  experience,   to  live   ou 


45 

earth.  Suppose  that  lie  stood  here  and  we  beheved  it 
was  even  so,  how  we  would  gather  around  him,  how 
many  questions  we  would  ask  him — questions  of  curios- 
ity, questions  of  anxiety,  questions  of  coveted  informa- 
tion. How  the  church  and  the  world  would  start  up  in 
the  attitude  of  expectation,  eager  to  hear  the  description 
of  that  world  from  which  he  had  come  and  to  which  we 
hope  we  are  all  journeying. 

What  and  where  is  heaven;  what  is  the  appearance  of 
the  angels  and  the  redeemed;  what  is  the  language 
thei-e  spoken — how  do  they  converse  with  each  other  i 
Paul  speaks  of  the  "tongues  of  angels;"  what  does  Paul 
mean^*  How  does  that  world  beyond  the  grave  resemble, 
how  does  it  differ  from  this  i  How  about  the  recognitions, 
the  employments,  the  worship  of  heaven?  The  friends 
who  have  gone  before — how  were  they  recognized,  and 
in  what  way,  by  the  friends  who  came  after  (  We 
all  know  something  of  that  feeling  expressed  by  the  poet; 
we  feel  it  especially  in  times  of  recent  bereavennMit. 
when  lover  and  friend  is  removed  from  us.  and  our  famil 
iar  acquaintance  hidden  in  darkness. 

"Oh  !  Christ  that  it  were  possible 
For  one  short  hour  to  see, 
The  souls  we  loved,  that  they  might  tell  us 
What  and  where  they  be." 

How  many  questions  like  these  would  start  up  in  the 
mind;  how  eager  we  would  be  to  ask  them;  how  anxious 
to  have  them  answered,  if  we  knew  there  was  one 
among  us  who  had  been  caught  up  into  paradise  and 
came  back  again  from  heaven  to  eaith  with  the  mem- 
ory of  that  experience. 

Now  what  did  l^ud  tell  the  church  of  Corinth,  and 
what  does  he  tell  us  i  He  told  them  the  fact  that 
lie  had  gone  up  to  the  heaveidy  paradise,  his  eyes  liad 


4fi 

seen  the  "  King  in  his  beauty,  and  the  land  that  is  very 
far  off,"  his  ears  had  heard  the  seraphic  melodies  of 
heaven,  and  now  what  were  these  ?  Paul  had  nothing 
to  tell !  "I  heard  unspeakable  words  which  it  is  not  law- 
ful for  a  man  to  utter/'  He  had  gone  within  the  vail. 
He  had  stood  where  ''angels  tremble  as  they  gaze,"  but 
he  had  no  authority;  yea,  more,  he  had  no  power  to  tell 
a  single  syllable  his  ears  had  heard,  a  single  sight  his 
eyes  had  witnessed. 

There  were  two  reasons  for  this  silence  : 

I.  These  words  were  unspeakable.  The  things  of 
heaven  could  not  be  translated  into  the  language  of 
earth;  the  human  mind  cannot  form  any  adequate 
conception;  mortal  tongue  cannot  repeat  in  human 
dialect  what  that  experience  is  which  makes  up  heaven, 
that  heaven  in  which  dwell  our  glorified  Redeemer,  the 
holy  angels,  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.  You 
might  as  well  attempt  to  describe  colors  to  a  blind  man, 
or  the  enchantments  of  music  to  a  deaf  man — to  one  who 
has  never  seen  or  heard — as  to  bring  down  to  human 
thoughts  and  to  sinful  hearts  the  ineffable  grandeurs, 
the  spotless  purity,  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  God's  secret 
pavilion  in  heaven. 

II.  But  more  than  this,  these  words  are  not  only  un- 
speakable but  the  Apostle  adds,  unlawful  to  utter. 
God  put  his  hand  upon  the  lips  of  the  Apostle  and  forbade 
him  to  utter  what  his  eyes  had  seen  or  his  ears  had 
heard.  God  had  not  seen  fit  to  turn  aside  the  vail 
of  that  world  to  which  we  are  journeying,  or  to  answer 
all  the  curious  questions  and  speculations  which  come 
up  ill  these  hearts  of  ours.  The  great  outlines  of  what 
heaven  is  God  has  told  us  in  his  holy  word.  We  know 
it  is  a  place  of  })erlV('t  holiness  and  hapi)iness  ;  a  i)lacc 
where  Christ  reigns  with  his  holy  angels, and  where  all  Ihe 
redeemed  are  to  be  gathered.     In  ihe  light  of  inspiration 


we  can  with  the  beloved  disciple  look  into  the  door  of 
heaven  and  gaze  upon  this  vision  of  glory  and  beauty. 
We  know  enough  to  lead  us  to  seek  a  title  and  nieetness 
for  heaven  and  to  make  this  life  a  preparation  for  that  life 
to  come;  but  when  in  the  spirit  of  wordly  speculation  and 
curiosity  we  would  fill  out  the  great  outlines  and  be 
'*  wise  above  that  which  is  written,"  then  we  find  how 
fruitless  are  our  inquiries,  how  little  we  know  of  that 
world  which  is  beyond  the  grave. 

Paul,  although  he  had  stood  amid  the  glories  of  para- 
dise, had  nothing  to  tell  except  that  the  words  he  had 
heard,  and  no  doubt  the  sights  he  had  seen  it  was  unlaw- 
ful, it  was  impossible  for  him  to  communicate  to  others. 

The  great  question  of  life,  after  all,  with  all  of  us  is 
this — not  so  much  where  heaven  is,  and  what  heaven  is 
in  all  its  minute  details,  but  this  is  the  great  question  of 
lif(^  for  which  life  is  given  :  Have  I  a  title  to  heaven; 
am  I  journeying  thither;  is  tliis  life  to  me  a  preparation 
for  that  life  which  is  within  tlie  vail  (  Soon  or  latei-  \\v 
shall  all  know  if  we  are  the  people  of  God  ;  we  shall 
know  in  heaven  what  Paul  knew^  on  earth  but  could 
not  tell  to  others.  We  shall  hear  the  "  words  wiiich  arc 
unspeakable  and  unlawful  to  utter."  We  shall  becauglit 
up  into  paradise,  and  find  in  tlie  presence  of  that  Saviour 
wliom  we  love  and  serve  "fulhiess,  joy,  ajid  at  his 
right  hand  pleasui'es  which  are  forevermore." 


kJJH 


TRIBUTES   OF  RESi^ECT. 


TK1BI7TES   OF  PvESl/E(_-T. 


THE  CLA88I8  OF  SARATOGA. 

The  following  minute  was  presented  at  the  session  of 
the  Classis  of  Saratoga,  held  at  Schuylerville,  Nov.  -J^k 
1SS8: 

Rev.  Chas.  N.  Waldron.  D  D.,  of  Detroit,  Midi.,  lately 
deceased,  was  born  and  brought  up  in  the  Reformed 
Church,  and  having  finished  his  theological  education  at 
Princeton,  was  ordained  in  the  church  of  his  fathers,  in 
which  he  served  so  faithfully  and  efficiently  for  nearly 
forty  years  as  greatly  to  commend  him  to  our  kindest 
regards  and  sincere  contidence.     Therefore, 

fiesolved.  That  while  the  Classis  of  Saratoga  bows 
with  uncomplaining  submission  to  the  Providential  dis- 
pensation that  has  removed  him  from  our  midst,  to  that 
of  the  Church  above,  we  cannot  repress  our  deep  sense 
of  bereavement  of  the  loss  of  a  brother  so  worthy,  so 
gifted  and  so  beloved. 

Rev.  a.  G.  Cckhhan,  CotHiniUce. 

Unanimously  accepted  and  adopted  by  the  Classis. 

Ika  VanAllex,  Clerk. 


52 


CONSISTORY  OF  THE  EEFORMED  CHURCH. 

The  following  is  the  action  of  the  Consistory  of  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Cohoes: 

The  Consistory  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Cohoes, 
having  heard  with  deep  sorrow  the  announcement  of  the 
decease  of  Rev.  Dr.  Waldron,  the  late  pastor  of  this 
church,  would  make  this  entry  upon  their  minutes  ex- 
pressive of  their  sense  of  loss  and  of  their  full  apprecia- 
tion of  the  great  work  done  by  Dr.  Waldron  during  his 
thirty  years'  ministry  in  this  church : 

During  his  pastorate  in  this  city  this  church  assumed 
proportions  of  strength,  influence  and  blessing  that  have 
made  it  a  center  of  spiritual  power  to  the  flock,  to  our 
denomination  and  to  our  land. 

Dr.  Waldron,  as  a  preacher,  was  spiritual,  instructive 
and  eloquent;  as  a  pastor,  industrious,  sympathetic, 
faithful  and  affectionate;  as  a  friend,  loving,  liberal  and 
ever  benevolent;  as  a  citizen,  loyal,  patriotic  and  public- 
spirited. 

His  name  stands  connected  here  with  all  that  com- 
mands respect,  calls  forth  ardent  affection  and  everlast- 
ing remembrance.  He  was  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ,  falling  with  the  armor  on  at  the  front  of  the  line, 
and  his  ascension  to  his  crown  was  almost  a  translation. 

It  is  our  prayer,  as  a  Consistory,  that  we  may  be  faith- 
ful to  the  trusts  left  in  our  hands  and  attest  our  love  as 
sincere  by  the  deepest  consecration  to  this  Zion's  welfare 
and  the  consummation  of  the  work  here  so  well  begun 
by  our  glorified  brother. 

J.  Paschal  Strong, 

President  of  the  Consistort/. 


58 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Resolutions  adopted  by  tlie  First  Presbyterian  Cliureli 
of  Hillsdale,  Mich.,  on  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chas. 
N.  Waldron: 
To  the  Family  of  Di\  Waldron,  Detroit,  Mich.: 

It  was  with  sincere  sorrow  we  learned  of  the  great  be- 
reavement which  has  so  recently  fallen  on  you  in  the 
death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Waldron;  and  from  the  affection 
we  have  for  his  memory  and  the  respect  we  have  for  his 
family,  we  think  it  titting  to  say  a  few  words  on  behalf 
of  the  members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  and 
society  of  Hillsdale — a  church  in  which  his  brothers 
worship))ed  and  which  held  a  strong  place  in  his  affec- 
tions, and  we  assure  you  his  death  comes  neai-er  to  our 
hearts  than  to  any  aside  from  his  family  and  kindred. 
To  this  church  he  was  for  a  few  years  a  dearly  beloved 
pastor,  wholly  consecrated  to  his  Master's  work.  Pow- 
erful in  the  pulpit  and  strong  in  the  scriptures,  which 
were  his  daily  study,  he  pointed  out  to  some  of  us,  for 
the  first  time,  the  Way  of  Life,  and  was  a  source  of 
strength  and  encouragement  to  the  whole  church.  As  a 
pastor  in  the  congregation  the  kindness  and  tenderness 
of  his  nature  was  apparent  to  all,  and  made  him  a  wel- 
come visitoi-  in  every  home;  and  in  many  of  these  homes 
in  our  midst,  when  sickness,  death  and  deej)  shadows 
came,  he  was  ever  ready  with  his  cheery  voice,  and  with 
those  woi-ds  which  conld  only  come  from  a  heart  full  ol 
love  and  faith.  He  was  ever  a  true  friend  to  us,  in 
"  whom  was  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turn- 
ing," And  when  his  pastoral  relations  ceased,  we  still 
leceived  continued  and  substantial  evidence  of  his  int(M- 
est  in  our  welfare.  We  feel  he  has  gone  to  his  reward, 
and  come  to  a  full  knowledge  of  the  truth  of  the  scriptures. 
"Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  hence- 
foi-th:  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from 
their  labors;  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

By  order  of  the  Session  of  the   Fii-st   Presbyterian 
Church  of  Hillsdale. 

Edward  E.  Mooue,  Clerk. 


54 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 
Action    taken    by    the  First    Presbyterian    Church, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  on  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chas.  N. 
Waldron: 

IN   MEMORIAM. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Session  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Detroit,  held  on  the  evening  of  March  5th, 
1888,  the  following  minute,  offered  by  Elder  D.  B.  Duf- 
field,  was  unanimously  adopted: 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Chas.  N.  Waldron,  having  on  the  even- 
ing of  March  2nd,  A.  D.  1888,  suddenly  and  fatally  fallen 
when  about  to  enter  the  desk  and  open  the  Friday  even- 
ing prayer  meeting, we,  the  Session  of  this  church,  while 
bowing  with  reverence  before  Him  with  whom  are  the 
issues  of  life,  and  who  ordereth  all  things  well,  do  hereby 
express  our  heartfelt  sorrow  over  the  loss  of  one  who 
has  of  late  stood  in  such  close  and  tender  relations  with 
this  church,  and,  especially,  during  the  last  six  months 
or  more,  in  which  he  has  filled  our  vacant  pulpit.  His 
clear,  eloquent  and  acceptable  presentation  of  Gospel 
truth  in  the  Sabbath  service,  and  his  rich  expositions  of 
Scripture  in  the  Prayer  Meeting,  together  with  his  cheer- 
ful discharge  of  pastoral  duties  whenever  called  upon, 
have  endeared  him  to  us  all,  and  will  long  keep  his  name 
in  blessed  memory  among  our  people.  We,  therefore, 
direct  that  this  minute  be  placed  upon  our  records,  and 
a  coi^y  transmitted  to  the  widow  and  family  of  the  de- 
ceased, together  with  an  expression  of  our  sincerest  sym- 
pathy in  the  great  loss  sustained,  not  only  by  them,  but 
l)y  the  church  at  large,  in  the  death  of  their  beloved  and 
lionored  head.  And  we  here  commend  them  to  the  gra- 
cious care  and  keeping  of  Him  who  alone  is  able  to  "  Give 
the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning  and  the  garment  of  praise 
fo)-  the  spirit  of  heaviness."        1).  l^)i^yriiUNE  Duffikld, 

.J.  F.  Di(!KiE,  Clerk  of  Session. 

Moderator. 


00 


JEFFERSON   AVENUE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Resolutions  adopted  by  the  Jefferson  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church,  Detroit,  Mich.,  on  the  death  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  C.  N.  Waldron: 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Session  of  the  Jefferson  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church,  held  on  Sabbath  afternoon,  March 
4th,  1888,  the  following  minute  was  adopted  and  the 
clerk  directed  to  record  the  same  upon  the  minutes  of 
the  Session,  and  forward  a  copy  to  the  bereaved  widow 
and  family  of  the  deceased: 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  our  Divine  Master  recently 
to  remove  by  death  His  faithful  ministering  servant,  the 
Rev.  DrChas.N.  Waldron,  whose  departure,  so  sudden  and 
unexpected,  and  at  an  hour  when  lie  was  about  to  lead 
tht^  devotions  of  one  of  our  sister  churches  in  their  even- 
ing service,  seemed  almost  like  a  translation.  It  is 
hereby 

Resolved,  That,  having  frequently  enjoyed  his  labors 
while  supplying  our  pulpit,  we  hereby  bear  our  unquali- 
fied testimony  of  his  faithfulness,  ability  and  zeal  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Word;  that  it  was  always  a  ]ileasure  to 
welcome  him  as  a  minister  of  Christ  among  our  ])eoi)lo, 
and  that  we  shall  long  fondly  chci-ish  the  memory  of  his 
acceptable  and  profitable  service  among  us. 

Jiesolved,  That  we  hereby  tender  to  his  bereaved 
widow  and  family  our  warmest  Christian  symi)athies 
with  our  fervent  prayers  that  the  })recious  consolation  of 
the  Gospel,  which  the  dei)arte(l  husband  so  often  minis- 
tei'ed  to  othei's,  may  be  abundantly  bestowed  on  them  in 
tills  lioui'  of  their  deep  sorrow  and  bereavement.. 

Horace  Hai.i.ock, 

Clerk  of  the  Sessioii, 
Jefferson  Ave.  Pi-es.  Church.  Detroit,  Mi«li. 


56 


THE  HOLLAND  REFOEMED  CHUECH. 

Eesolutions  adopted  by  the  First  Holland  Eeformed 
Church,  Detroit,  Mich.,  on  the  death  of  the  Eev.  Dr. 
Waldron : 

Detroit,  Mich.,  March  5th,  1888. 
Mrs.  C.  N.  Waldron: 

The  sad  news  of  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  N. 
Waldron  was  heard  yesterday  in  our  congregation  with 
deep  sorrow.  A  meeting  of  the  Consistory  was  held, 
and  it  was 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Waldron 
in  supplying  our  pulpit  with  English  services  for  nearl}' 
one  winter,  helping  the  Consistory  in  every  way  to  build 
up  our  church  and  taking  great  interest  in  the  congrega- 
tion, we  feel  called  upon  to  testify,  in  this  way,  to  liis 
good  will  to  us  and  our  great  sorrow  at  his  departure. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  memorial  of  tlie  Rev. 
Dr.  Waldron  be  sent  to  Holland,  Mich.,  to  be  published 
in  tlie  Holland  church  paper  at  Hope  College. 

W^ishing  the  Lord  will  give  you  strength  and  faith  t(^ 
stand  tliis  great  loss. 

In  the  name  of  the  Consistory  of  the  First  Holland 
Reformed  Church,  C.  M.  Van  OosTENBiuTCiCiK. 


57 


ON   THE  ALTAR'S  STAIR. 


SUDDEN   DEATH   OK   KEV.    CHARLES   X.    WALDKoX,    I>.   D. 
OF   DETROIT. 


IN  THE   NEW    YORK   EVANGELIST,    BY   D.    15.    DlFFIEr,!). 


Editor  of  fJi(^  Xeic  York  Evfiugel i.^i: 

Tliis  distinguished  divine  and  most  excellent  preacher 
passed  last  evening  hehind  tlie  vail,  with  scarce  a 
moment's  waining.  For  sev(;ral  months  past  he  has 
kindly  tilled  the  vacant  pulpit  of  the  First  Preshyterian 
Church  of  this  city,  preaching  twice  on  Sundays  and 
taking  charge  of  the  weekly  meetings,  hesides  looking 
after  the  sick  of  the  congregation  wIkmicvcm'  called  upon. 
His  ahle  discourses  in  the  pulpit,  his  rich  (expositions  (»r 
Seri|)ture  in  the  lecture  room,  his  j)rom[it  and  faithful 
discharge  of  every  duty,  and  his  genial  and  pk'asant 
manners,  had  won  for  him  not  only  the  lespect  and  i'e\  - 
erence  of  the  people,  but  also  their  united  love;  for  while 
only  acting  as  "  a  supply,"  he  was  in  fact  discharging  all 
the  more  tender  offices  of  pastor,  and  was  really  so  re 
garded  and  esteemed  by  the  congregation  at  large. 

Last  evening  he  left  his  house  to  take  charge  of  the 
prayer  meeting,  came  to  the  church  a  few  minutes 
before  the  regular  hour,  and  in  passing  through  the  lec- 
ture-room towai'd  tlu^  desk,  he  was  suddenly  seized  with 
an  apparent  fainting  spell,  giasped  for  a  moment  one  of 


5,S 

the  columns,  and  then  fell.  He  was  assisted  to  a  chair, 
and  to  the  inquiry  of  "What  was  the  matter?"  he  sim- 
ply answered,  "I  feel  faint,"  but  said  no  more.  In  less 
than  five  minutes,  with  his  head  in  the  lap  of  one  of  the 
ladies  present,  he  breathed  his  last,  amid  the  tearful 
throng  who  by  this  time  were  gathered  around  him. 
His  devoted  wife,  who  generally  accompanied  him  to 
church,  did  not,  on  account  of  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather,  go  with  him  last  evening,  and  was  shocked 
beyond  measure  when,  within  an  hour  after  leaving  his 
home,  apparently  in  perfect  health,  he  was  returned  to 
her  in  the  silence  of  death. 

This  occurrence,  so  like  the  departure  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Duffield,  the  former  pastor  of  the  churcli  in  1S68,  im- 
pressed the  people,  especially  the  older  members  of  the 
church,  with  profound  sorrow,  and  has  cast  a  gloom 
over  a  wide  circle  of  the  dead  preacher's  friends.  The 
funeral  rites  have  not  yet  been  arranged  for,  and  I  add 
no  more,  except  to  say  that  the  deceased  retained  liis 
connection  with  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  and  had 
formerly  been  a  pastor  in  Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  and  in  Hillsdale 
in  this  State.  His  ecclesiastical  record  you  probably 
know.  He  had  been  a  resident  of  Detroit  for  several 
years  past,  and  had  only  last  year  erected  a  new  and 
beautiful  home,  where,  surrounded  by  his  books  and 
every  home  comfort,  he  was  spending  his  last  years  in  a 
happy  retirement  from  the  more  onerous  responsibilities 
of  an  active  pastorate,  but  still  wearing  the  armor  of  the 
Christian  soldier,  ready  to  serve  in  any  emergency  when- 
ever called  upon.  We  all  lament  liim,  for  he  was  a  fear- 
less and  able  preacher,  a  ripe  scholar,  a  genial  friend, 
and  an  exemplar  of  all  those  Christian  and  domestic  vir- 
tues that  make  the  noblest  men.  He  lias  g()n(^  to  liis 
reward,  but  his  works  and  many  veiy  pleasant  memories 
will  long  live  after  him. 


59 
BY  C.  VAN  SANTVOORD,  D.  D. 

IN   THE   CHRISTIAN    INTELLIGENCER. 

The  tidings  of  the  sudden  death  of  Rev.  Charles  N. 
Waldrou,  D.  D.,  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  on  the  iJd  inst.,  came 
to  his  numerous  friends  at  the  East  with  the  force  of  a 
shock,  impressing  upon  not  a  few  of  them  a  sense  of 
personal  bereavement.  He  had  resided  in  Michigan  since 
1ST9,  and  had  been  removed,  therefore,  for  this  period, 
from  direct  personal  intercourse  with  those  who  knew 
him  longest  and  best.  But  with  many  of  these  the  sense 
of  his  personality, — his  frank  face,  his  vivacious  address, 
his  genial  spirit  that  breathed  through  look  and  word 
and  act,  remained  fresh  as  though  he  had  lately  left 
them  on  a  visit  and  was  soon  to  return. 

His  first  residence  after  going  to  Michigan  was  at 
Hillsdale,  then  the  home  of  his  brother,  the  Hon.  Henry 
Waldron,  since  deceased.  Here  a  vacant  Presbyterian 
Church  secured  his  services,  though  he  declined  to  settle 
as  pastor  over  it,  prefening  to  suj^ply  it  and  to  retain  his 
connection  with  the  Reformed  Church,  in  which  all  his 
previous  ministerial  life  had  passed.  This  connection 
was  not  sundered  to  the  last,  he  being  at  his  death  a 
member  of  the  Classis  of  Saratoga.  Not  long  after  his 
biother's  death,  which  was  hardly  less  sudden  than  his 
own,  he  removed  to  Detroit,  where  two  of  his  sons  are  in 
business,  and  where  a  wider  field  opened  to  him  for  the 
exercise  of  his  superior  abilities  and  gifts  as  a  minister  of 
Christ.  These  abilities  were  at  once  recognized,  and  his 
services  were  in  constant  demand  in  various  churches  in 
the  city,  from  the  beginning  of  his  residence  thei-e. 
Though  not  purposing  to  assume  the  j)astoral  t  barge 
again,  li(»  was  called  u|>on  to  ]»i'ea(h  almost  continuously, 
being  at  his  death  the  legular  supply  of  the  First  Rres- 


60 

bytei'iaii  OhuicJi,  and  liad  been  since  Rev.  Mr.  Ban-  le- 
signed  its  pastorate.  Indeed,  it  was  wbile  proceeding  to 
fnlfill  the  Frida)^  evening  appointment  in  that  chnrch, 
as  he  was  walking  up  the  aisle  of  the  lecture-room  to 
enter  on  this  service,  that  death  arrested  his  steps,  and 
he  was  bidden  to  lay  aside  the  armor  he  had  bravely 
worn  so  long,  and  rest  among  the  faithful  beyond  the 
din  of  earthly  warfare  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

Dr.  Waldron's  main  life-work  was  done  at  Cohoes, 
N.  Y.  Here  stands  and  will  remain  the  principal  memo- 
rial of  his  earnest  and  efficient  ministry.  '  Graduating 
from  Union  College  in  1846,  and  from  Princeton  Semi- 
nary in  1840,  he  was  ordained  the  same  year  by  the 
Classis  of  Watervliet,  and  settled  at  Cohoes,  then  in  this 
Classis,  which,  in  1858,  blended  with  the  Classis  of  Wash- 
ington, the  two  forming  the  Classis  of  Saratoga.  He 
found  the  church  of  Cohoes  in  1849  feeble  in  numbers 
and  resources;  he  left  it  in  1879  a  strong  and  influential 
society.  Its  families  increased  in  the  thirty  years  of  his 
pastorate  from  fifty- five  to  a  hundred  and  eighty,  its 
luembership  from  seventy-two  to  three  hundred  and 
seventy-three.  The  modest  little  structure  where  the 
first  worshippers  met  was  in  due  time  supplanted  by  the 
stately  and  spacious  edifice  now  occupied  by  the  congre- 
gation, while  various  departments  of  chuich  work  and 
enterprise  were  fitly  organized  and  put  in  efficient  opera- 
tion. The  church  owed  its  material  expansion  mainly  to 
his  own  energy,  tact,  earnestness  and  wisdom  in  win- 
ning men,  but  lie  was  fortunate  in  and  aided  by  liis 
social  affiHations.  His  uncle  by  mari'iage  was  Egbert 
Egberts,  who  held  large  manufacturing  interests  in  the 
place,  was  a  warm  friend  of  the  ]?efoiin(>d  Church,  and 
bore  a  large  part  of  the  burden  which  the  new  chuich 
edifice  imposed,  and  who  stood  ready  with  his  aid  when 
other    chui-cb    bui'dens    needed  lightening.      Tims   the 


61 

society  moved  on  in  harmony,  and  free  from  debt,  that 
frequent  bane  of  a  church,  increasing  steadily  in  mem- 
bers and  strength,  under  the  faithful  labors  of  a  pastor 
who  enjoyed  in  a  high  degree  the  confidence  and  affec- 
tion of  his  flock,  to  whose  welfare  he  devoted  his  best 
faculties  with  unwearied  assiduity. 

In  this  day  of  frequent  ministerial  changes,  a  pastorate 
of  thirty  years  is  a  long  term.  But  unusually  strong  ties 
in  this  case  held  people  and  pastor  together.  They 
looked  up  to  him  with  entire  trust  in  his  sincerity,  re- 
specting, honoring,  loving  him  for  the  grand  message  he 
proclaimed,  for  the  earnestness  with  which  he  sought  to 
win  the  wandering  to  the  cross,  for  the  warm  sympa- 
thies which  brought  comfort  to  the  sorrowing  and  relief 
to  the  burdened.  They  found  strength,  profit,  guidance, 
cheer  in  his  preaching,  and  had  no  wish  to  change  it  for 
the  untried.  He,  on  his  part,  was  quite  satisfied  with  them, 
and  with  the  field  he  was  appointed  to  till,  and  sought  and 
desired  no  change,  closing  his  ear  to  suggestions  looking 
in  that  direction,  and  content  to  stand  and  labor  on  in 
the  lot  where  the  I^ord  of  the  Vineyard  had  placed  him, 
not  courting  the  applause  of  the  world,  nor  notoriety 
from  appearing  in  other  pulpits  than  his  own,  but 
quietly,  humbly,  steadfastly  seeking  to  do  his  whole  duty 
well,  in  his  own  field  of  labor,  and  mainly  anxious 
among  his  own  peo[)le,  " by  manifestation  of  the  truth, 
to  commend  himself  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the 
sight  of  God." 

Thus  his  people  loved  him  more  the  longer  and  hettci' 
they  came  to  know  him.  His  hold  upon  them  was  verv 
strong  indeed,  as  was  shown  at  the  fiftieth  amiiversarv 
services  of  the  church  last  fall,  when  he  was  present  to 
take  part  in  the  ceremonies,  and  tlie  people  thronged  the 
church  to  hear  again  a  voice  they  had  so  much  loved, 
and  to  welcome  with  tears  oue  who  had  done  so  nuich 


62 

good,  and  who  by  his  hfe  and  work  among  them  had  so 
deeply  impressed  himself  on  the  community. 

They  had,  indeed,  good  reason  to  set  high  value  upon 
his  ministry.  For,  although  for  the  reason  above  men- 
tioned, and  from  his  retiring  disposition  he  was  not 
widely  known  to  the  churches  and  even  ministers  of  our 
name,  he  was  a  strong  man  in  his  own  pulpit,  and  an 
effective  preacher  to  the  end  of  his  ministry.  His 
strength  owed  little  to  nature  and  art.  His  voice  was 
not  powerful  nor  particularly  pleasing.  He  lacked  elo- 
cutionary graces  and  cared  little  about  them.  His  de- 
livery was  rapid  with  but  little  action  to  enliven  it.  But 
his  enunciation  was  distinct.  His  style  was  clear,  crisp 
and  incisive.  He  was  an  earnest  and  dihgent  student  of 
the  Scriptures,  with  which  his  discourse  was  richly  im- 
bued. His  sermons  were  prepared  with  conscientious 
care,  were  clear  and  cogeut  in  presenting  the  truth, 
striking  often  with  illustrations,  which  his  fine  culture 
and  wide  and  various  reading  enabled  him  to  gather, 
thoroughly  evangelical  in  tone,  direct  and  forcible  in  ap- 
plication, and  glowing  with  an  earnestness  that  yearned 
to  persuade  men  "in  Christ's  stead  to  be  reconciled  to 
God."  These  were  qualities  that  made  his  preaching 
fresh  and  edifying  to  the  close  of  his  earthly  work. 

Socially  he  was  a  delightful  companion.  With  inti- 
mate friends,  before  whom  he  felt  no  reserve,  his  keen 
sense  of  humor,  his  aptness  at  repartee,  his  wealth  of 
anecdote,  his  incisive  comments  on  events  of  the  day, 
appeared  at  their  l)rightest,  making  him  the  most  viva- 
cious and  entertaining  of  talkers.  His  buoyant  spirits 
needed  such  occasional  effervescence  as  this.  But  the 
transition  from  gay  to  grave  was  not,  in  this  case,  harsh 
or  hard.  The  genial  nature  that  could  entertain  friends 
was  sympathetic  towards  the  woe-worn  and  sorrowing. 
His  words  soothed  the  couch  of  sickness  and  pain,  con- 


63 

veyed  courage  to  the  weak  and  wavering,  and  hope  to 
those  ready  to  despair.  IMauy  of  his  former  flock  will 
appreciate  this  well.  ]Sor  is  it  necessary  to  add  that  this 
warm-hearted  Christian  man  proved  himself,  in  his  own 
house,  a  loving  and  devoted  father  and  husband,  ever 
watchful  of  the  welfare  of  those  nearest  to  him  and  ever 
rejoicing  to  have  them  walk  with  him  in  the  ways  of 
the  Lord.  As  preacher,  pastor,  head  of  a  family,  as  true 
friend  and  good  citizen,  he  ' '  served  his  generation  faith- 
fully by  the  will  of  God,"  and  having  done  this  he  fell 
asleep. 

He  fell  by  a  sudden  stroke,  as  the  bolt  from  heaven 
sometimes  does  its  work.  And  this  quick  sundering  of 
spirit  and  clay  seems  a  fearful  calamity,  and  people  so 
speak  of  it,  especially  when  years  of  fruitful  labor  might 
be  reasonably  looked  for  from  him  thus  summoned  away 
before  reaching  his  three  score  years  and  ten.  So  friends 
who  sit  with  bowed  heads  and  bleeding  hearts  beside  the 
remains  of  the  dearly  loved,  may  think  and  feel.  But, 
divorced  from  these  natural  emotions  which  will  assert 
themselves  when  the  most  beloved  die,  whether  suddenly 
or  not,  why,  when  the  Master  of  all  would  exalt  a  ser- 
vant to  sit  in  heavenly  places,  is  not  this  swift  translation 
thither  a  boon  and  privilege,  rather  than  a  calamity  to 
deplore  ?  It  means  exemption  from  all  possibility  of 
mortal  suffering  in  any  form,  often  severe  and  long 
drawn  out,  and  instant  possession  of  "  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him,"  too  won- 
drous for  eye  to  see  or  heart  to  understand.  Life's 
labors  done,  just  when,  the  Master  must  and  does  decide, 
the  faithful  laborer  should  be  deemed  hap})y  indeed  who 
enters  by  one  bound,  as  it  were,  "'the  house  of  God  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  And  we  who 
honored  and  loved  him  may  well  "comfort  one  another 
with  these  words." 


64 


AT  THE  ALTAR  STAIR. 


THE    KEV.    DK.     VVALDROX    DIES    WHEN    ABOUT    TO     ENTER 

THE  PULPIT. 


rX   THE  HILLSDALE  LEADER. 


The  announcement  of  Dr.  Waldron's  sudden  death 
was  received  with  great  surprise  in  this  city.  Only  a  few 
days  previous  he  had  been  here  attending  to  his  business 
interests  and  apparently  in  his  usual  good  health.  For 
many  years  during  the  lifetime  of  his  brothers  Henry 
and  William  in  this  city,  and  while  he  resided  at  Cohoes, 
N.  Y. ,  he  was  an  occasional  visitor  here,  and  made  many 
friends  and  acquaintances.  In  1S79  he  removed  here 
with  his  family  and  became  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  position  he  held  for  three  years,  when, 
by  reason  of  much  needed  rest,  he  resigned  as  pastor  of 
the  church,  greatly  to  the  regret  of  the  entire  church  and 
congregation.  No  pastor  since  the  death  of  the  Rev.  F. 
R.  Gallaher  had  so  completely  won  the  love  and  confi- 
dence of  his  church  and  society,  indeed  of  the  whole  com- 
munity, as  did  Dr.  Waldron.  After  the  death  of  his 
biother  Henry,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  First 
National  Bank,  but  not  wishing  to  be  burdened  by  the 
caies  and  duties  of  the  [>osition,  he  resigned  his  place  at 
the  head  and  accei)ted  the  ottice  of  vice-president,  which 
])osition  he  held  until  his  death.  He  was  one  of  the 
[»rinci[)al  stockholders  in  the  bank.     He  was  the  survivor 


Ho 

of  three  brothers.  Heiirv  and  Wilham  having  died  in  this 
city,  and  two  sisters,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Waterman  and  Mar- 
garet, only  are  left  of  the  family.  Xo  words  of  praise 
are  necessary,  indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how 
anything  can  be  added  to  the  honorable  fame  his  daily 
life  of  good  works  had  secured  to  him.  Of  broad  cul- 
ture and  great  scholarly  attainments,  yet  the  poor  and 
distressed  ever  found  in  him  a  friend  to  whom  they 
might  of  a  certainty  go  without  fear  of  repulsion.  A 
good  man  in  word,  life  and  deed  has  been  called  home. 
A  large  number  from  this  city  attended  the  funeral  and 
the  remains  were  laid  at  rest  in  Woodmere  Cemeteiy  in 
Detroit  Tuesdav  afternoon. 


66 


FROM  THE   HILLSDALE  COLLEGE   HERALD. 

By  the  death  of  Dr.  Waldron  the  College  has  lost  a 
faithful  friend.  When  the  late  Hon.  Henry  Waldron,  a 
trustee  from  the  organization  of  the  institution,  was 
suddenly  stricken  down  in  the  midst  of  a  busy  life,  with- 
out opportunity  to  do  for  the  College  w'hat  all  believed 
he  would  have  done  if  permitted  to  accomplish  his  pur- 
poses, this  brother  with  the  sister  and  widow,  promptly 
came  forward  and  established,  as  a  memorial,  the 
Waldron  Professorship  Although,  at  that  time,  he  was 
comparatively  a  stranger,  he  cheerfully  accepted  the 
vacant  seat  of  his  brother,  and  took  up  his  work  in  the 
interest  of  the  college.  We  have  been  proud  of  him  as 
a  trustee  and  sincerely  mourn  his  death.  Every  member 
of  the  school  feels  that  a  real  friend  and  able  helper  has 
gone.  Words  can  but  feebly  express  the  irreparable 
loss.  His  place  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  cannot  be  filled. 
Broad-minded,  clear-headed,  conscientious  men  of  ex- 
perience and  large  influence  are  not  easily  found.  It 
requires  sixty-four  years  of  honest,  faithful  service  in 
this  life,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  to 
•develop  one  like  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  N.  Waldron.  As  a  citi- 
zen no  man  ever  stood  higher  in  the  esteem  of  the  people 
of  this  community.  He  was  a  friend  of  all.  None 
escaped  his  notice  because  of  low  condition  or  received  it 
more  because  of  high  degree.  He  was  to  all  the  same 
genial,  benevolent,  kind-hearted  Christian  gentleman. 
Ho  was  oai-nest,  loyal,  true  in  all  things.     Th(^  funeral 


67 

services  were  held  at  the  winter  residence  of  the  family, 
47  Watson  street,  Detroit,  Tuesday,  at  2  o'clock.  A  large 
number  of  friends  and  neighbors  from  this  city  attended, 
among  them  Pres.  Geo.  F.  Mosher.  All  college  exercises 
were  suspended  during  the  afternoon. 


